By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT — Oregon Coast Community College is moving three medical programs from its Waldport building to Lincoln City this fall and will use the 8-year-old building on Crestline Drive for community-oriented classes when coronavirus restrictions allow.
The college’s South Coast Center near Waldport High School has been largely devoted to the nursing and medical assistant and emergency medical technician programs since 2012.
But it has decided to move the two programs to Lincoln City because of a “confluence of reasons,” said Dave Price, OCCC’s director of community engagement. These include:
- There are many more people in the Lincoln City area, up to 15,000 residents between Depoe Bay and Rose Lodge. “We think there’s opportunity there,” Price said. “More people will find it more convenient.”
- The Lincoln City campus is six times larger than the single building in Waldport and also has two computer labs that are experiencing diminished use, so there is room to grow and expand;
- The college wants to see if it can attract more community use to the Waldport campus by offering non-credit classes – especially arts programs — during the day. “We’re basically going to use that building to open the college up more to the community,” Price said. “I just don’t think we were able to offer enough before.”
College officials said the simulation lab in Waldport filled more than half of the 4,200-square-foot building and often required using an additional classroom.
“By moving these programs to the college’s North County Center in Lincoln City, we’re making those medical programs more accessible for north county residents while we’re also freeing up space for more credit courses, noncredit community education classes, and small business workshops for south county residents,” college president Birgitte Ryslinge said in a news release.
Because of coronavirus restrictions the medical assistant and EMT programs will be limited to 12 students this fall, and the nursing assistant program to six. Once coronavirus issues ease, the college hopes to enroll up to 22 in each of the medical and EMT programs.
The change will open up a variety of possibilities for the Waldport facility.
“In just the past few years, we’ve seen our lineup of non-credit community education grow from less than a dozen each term to more than 50,” said Price. “A few of these have been made available in Waldport, but too often it’s hard to schedule the time without interrupting the medical assistant or nursing assistant programs. Now, we’ll have greater flexibility and will be scheduling a much wider variety of courses.”
Price also said the college should be able to schedule additional credit courses and business workshops.
But that will be awhile.
Dan Lara, the college’s chief academic officer, said restrictions on gathering sizes because of the coronavirus “will likely delay our ability to take full advantage of the additional classroom space in Waldport.”
Lara said most regular, fall term classes starting in late September will only be offered online.
Before the coronavirus pandemic forced widespread instructional changes, an increasing number of credit classes were being offered simultaneously in Lincoln City and Newport in a “hybrid” model. That involves a classroom of students in one location with an instructor, while another group of students watch and participate live, via Zoom, together in a classroom elsewhere.
“Now, hybrid classes like these may also be scheduled to include Waldport,” said Lara.
Linda Mollino, director of Health and Human Services Careers, said the college is excited to reach out to a new population of potential students in Lincoln City.
“Our medical and nursing assistant programs aren’t just a fast-track to good jobs … they’re also an important first step for some who decide to pursue a nursing degree at OCCC,” Mollino said. “We’re proud we were able to offer those programs in Waldport for the past eight years, and we’re glad we can now make them available in Lincoln City.”