Move to larger facility to serve growing Methodist College community

By Elise Zwicky For Chronicle Media
 Methodist College will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 25, at its new facility in what once housed the old American TV and Appliance store in north Peoria. A demand for nurses has fueled the college’s expansion as it outgrew its former facility in downtown Peoria.


Methodist College will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 25, at its new facility in what once housed the old American TV and Appliance store in north Peoria. A demand for nurses has fueled the college’s expansion as it outgrew its former facility in downtown Peoria.

Methodist College is settling into its new facility in what once housed a furniture and appliance store and is ready to serve a growing enrollment that could reach as high as 700 students this fall.

With a history that dates back more than a century, Methodist College moved last week into the former American TV & Appliance store at 5801 W. War Memorial after spending about a year renovating the space. The school had been located at 415 NE St. Mark Court near its affiliate hospital, UnityPoint Health-Methodist.

The college will show off its new digs during an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 25.

“We’re very proud of the building, and we’re hoping a lot of the community will come out to see it,” said Anna Buehrer, the school’s director of marketing and public relations.

Prospective students can also obtain information about the college and apply for admission during the open house.

“If anybody wants to come that day and apply for classes that start on Aug. 15, they just have to bring the appropriate paperwork, which is listed on our website,” Buehrer added. “They can find out that day if they’re accepted for the fall.”

The new facility has three labs and 14 classrooms, nearly triple the size of the school’s previous space.

Methodist College offers many learning opportunities in nursing and health sciences, including a bachelor of science in nursing, a bachelor of science in health sciences, a gerontology certificate program and a master of science in nursing nurse educator program, according to the school’s website.

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission North Central Association and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the college will also be adding to its curriculum in the new facility.

“Certified medical assistant is a new program that we will be rolling out this fall, and we are looking at adding a certified nurse assistant program pending approval with the state,” Buehrer said. “We will also be offering a bachelor’s in social work in fall 2017 subject to approval.”

Buehrer said Methodist College outgrew its former location downtown as enrollment has consistently grown in the past several years.

There definitely is a high demand for individuals to enter the nursing field, and it’s one of the most employable career opportunities,” she said. “Here in the central Illinois area, health care is definitely a major employer. So our enrollment has been growing, and we were basically artificially capped because we didn’t have the classroom space to be able to accommodate additional students.”

With an enrollment last spring of 624, the school expects enrollment this year to be between 650 and 700. Methodist College is the largest health sciences college in downstate Illinois based on undergraduate enrollment, Buehrer said.

Buehrer estimated the new facility could accommodate up to 1,000 students, adding that there’s undeveloped space within the building to allow for future growth.

The new location was chosen for several reasons.

“We were looking for space that would definitely accommodate future growth and that also would provide adequate parking for our students, as well as room for student housing,” Buehrer said. “We’ve partnered with Cullinan Properties, and they’ve developed a student housing complex directly behind the new campus.”

The new location is next to acreage that UnityPoint Health already owns, bringing the total space to 13 acres.

“There’s enough room on the property behind the building where we have the student complex to develop five additional buildings of student housing,” Buehrer said.

The current student housing building can accommodate up to 120 students, with about 70 apartments already filled, she noted. It’s designed for traditional students, while some of the future housing will be designed for the needs of single parent students and married students.

Methodist College offered three floors of student dormitories at its previous location.

The relocation and expansion of the college has led to the hiring of additional faculty and staff, including the creation of a community education director position. That person will oversee the CNA program and other programs that allow people to be trained and get into the work force quickly, as well as develop programs that offer continuing education credits and training for working health care professionals, Buehrer said.

The college employs 80 full- and part-time staff, 41 full-time faculty and about 20 adjunct faculty. The school is adding eight new staff positions and three new academic positions to accommodate its growth, and will also be hiring several part-time staff members to work in a new café and campus store.

Although the college will now be across town from its affiliate hospital, Buehrer said that is not a concern.

“Our students participate in clinical sites all over the city, so it’s not necessarily just the hospitals where they do their clinical work. The other aspect is that the students previously had to go to the hospital to our simulation center where they get their hands-on experience, and we’ve moved the simulation center here, so that’s consolidated with our current campus.”

The college’s new address is 7600 N. Academic Drive. Buehrer said Academic Drive is the new name for Sprinkler Lane, which runs between the new campus and Fiskars. The road has been extended to go back to the new student housing complex.

For more information about Methodist College or the open house on Monday, July 25, visit the school’s website at www.methodistcol.edu or call (309) 672-5513.

 

— Move to larger facility to serve growing Methodist College community. —