Center For Health Professions

The first wing of the Center is complete and here is its entrance.

Meeting society's need for allied health practitioners

The "Oregon Center for Health Professions" was the name given to Oregon Institute of Technology's allied health programs in 2005 by Governor Kulongoski because OIT is the regional leader of undergraduate allied health education in the Pacific Northwest. OIT has accredited baccalaureate degree programs in Medical Imaging, Dental Hygiene, Clinical Lab Sciences, Respiratory Care and Health Sciences, as well as excellent instructional facilities, technological infrastructure, academic resources, and extensive partnerships with the medical community throughout the Northwest and the country. OIT's programs offer students a wonderful opportunity to become part of the growing field of healthcare professionals.

Over the next 25 years, the aging of the baby boomers will both increase the demand for health care and reduce the number of healthcare professionals through retirement. The convergence of these two factors will create a shortfall of human resources and tremendous opportunity for students interested in the healthcare field. OIT is uniquely positioned to address the current and projected healthcare worker crises and ideally suited to advance healthcare education through applied learning and industry alliances.

The capital campaign for the Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions

Under the umbrella of the "Oregon Center for Health Professions," is OIT's new building that is still under construction on the Klamath Falls campus. When finished, it will be a 95,792 square-feet, state-of-the-art health sciences facility with laboratories, classrooms, clinics and offices. When Wing I, the Wetter Wing, opened in the fall of 2007, the two-wing building was named after OIT President Martha Anne Dow, who was the moving force behind its creation. The Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions building is the result of a visionary capital campaign that has raised more than $35 million so far for construction and equipment. The total cost for the project is going to be $38.5 million.

Wing II is under construction now and scheduled to open in 2009. When completed, the new facility will enable OIT's allied health professions to double the student body through expanding current programs and adding new health programs. It will help OIT continue to set the standard for excellence in health care education in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

The capital campaign continues: Along with many caring individuals, all of the major Oregon Foundations have contributed to the construction of the Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust provided more than half a million dollars for echocardiography equipment and The Ford Family Foundation contributed $2 million - $500,000 more than the original request to support the capital project. The most recent boost to the project came from the prestigious Kresge Foundation in Michigan, which has recognized the project with a $1 million Challenge Grant to complete the campaign.

Those funds bring the capital campaign close to completion, but there is still more work to be done. With several million still to be raised, the campaign committee is looking to the health care community, our local friends, OIT's generous alumni, and additional foundations throughout the state and the country to bring the project to its successful culmination. OIT and the Oregon Tech Development Foundation are working together to raise $2.4 million by next fall to qualify for the Challenge Grant. If you would like to make a secure, online gift to help meet the Challenge, go to https://alumni.oit.edu/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=572.