This investment will support the creation of a health science wing on the main campus of the western wyoming community college, in rock springs, WY

The Department of Commerce's Economic Adjustment Assistance program awarded an $8.39 million Project Grant to Western Wyoming Community College District to support the creation of a new health science wing on its main campus in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The project aims to increase enrollment in health sciences programs from 48 to 96 students annually to help meet regional workforce demands. Specifically, the grant will fund construction of an addition and renovation of existing classrooms to expand training capacity for high-demand healthcare occupations. It is expected that over 1,500 trained workers will fill vacant health care positions in the five-county region over the next decade as the local economy diversifies away from declining coal industries. The improved facilities and equipment enabled by this investment are intended to accommodate greater student enrollment and meet accreditation standards, with the goal of addressing the identified need for 150 new health science positions by local employers.

The 5 county project region is struggling to diversify its economy with the decline of the coal energy industry. In order to support the growth and productivity of the new industry, the region needs a robust healthcare and emergency response system. The project includes construction of a new addition and renovation of existing classrooms. The overall purpose of the project is to increase enrollment and completions for the health science programs in response to demand for skilled healthcare workers in the region. In addition to expanding enrollment, the project will improve the teaching environments in accordance with accrediting recommendations and requirements. The improved facility space and equipment will accommodate needs for training an increased number of healthcare workers. Western wyoming community college district anticipates IT will be able to increase its health sciences program enrollment capacity from 48 to 96 annually in order to meet the demand for 150 health science positions that have been identified by employers within the project area. Accounting for attrition and turnover of staff, IT is anticipated 1,500 trained workers will fill vacant health care positions over the next 10 years.