Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - central maine community college's (cmcc) healthcare training expansion project will create opportunities to enroll more…

Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - central maine community college's (cmcc) healthcare training expansion project will create opportunities to enroll more students in high-wage in-demand fields and help fill workforce shortages in healthcare. The project includes a 7,200-square-foot addition to kirk hall to support the growth of the nursing program which has recently enrolled an additional 80 students annually, add additional healthcare degrees such as a surgical technology program, update science labs, improve the exercise science and physical fitness specialist programs, and enhance short-term workforce training programs in healthcare areas such as medical assistant, certified nurse assistant, basic life support certification, and phlebotomy. The college's nursing education and healthcare/wellness training space is at full capacity so without additional space, cmcc cannot enroll more students or create new healthcare programming to help fill the state's workforce shortages. The two-story addition to kirk hall is 60 feet by 60 feet and would increase the total square footage from 39,790 square feet to 46,990 square feet and would require 3,600 square feet of ground disturbance to complete. Cmcc will be employing the state of maine bureau of general services design-bid-build process. Cmcc offers the lowest tuition in maine at $96/credit hour. Having the ability to grow healthcare programs will make IT possible for more mainers to enroll and benefit. Healthcare jobs are high demand, high wage jobs where earners contribute to maine's economy. Cmcc has a long history of educating students who stay in maine and funding this project will increase those numbers.