Manhattanville and Mercy colleges are coming to the rescue of former nursing students at the closed College of New Rochelle by offering new or expanded nursing programs.
Manhattanville College in Purchase, which is seeking accreditation for a School of Nursing and Health Sciences from the New York State Department of Education, has received a $60,000 grant to build a clinical learning lab on its campus. That grant was part of $65.8 million allocated to 105 projects in the Hudson Valley by the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council; Manhattanville was the only institute of higher education to be awarded money.
“The use of clinical simulation is critical for training competent and safe practitioners, as it will help to bridge important connections between academic knowledge and clinical reasoning,” said Debra A. Simons, the new dean of Manhattanville”™s School of Nursing & Health Sciences, who had been dean of the nursing school at New Rochelle.
“Clinical simulation provides an opportunity to apply theory while gaining experience in skills or procedures that would otherwise be difficult without putting patients at risk, such as managing emergencies and resuscitation,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mercy College has been approved by the New York State Education Department to provide increased degree offerings online and at its Dobbs Ferry, Manhattan and Bronx campuses. In addition to helping alleviate the national nursing shortage, the expanded programs will provide “a seamless pathway for students to continue their education after the former College of New Rochelle ceased academic operations in August 2019,” according to a statement.
In November, the trustees of the Masonic Hall & Asylum Fund acquired the 15.6-acre College of New Rochelle campus at an auction for $32 million. The college filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 20 due to $80 million in liabilities, following several years of financial uncertainty.
