The new Health Information Technology program is on schedule for its Sept. 30 introduction.
The program, which is funded by stimulus money, is creating five new certificate tracks that can be completed in as little as six months. The college was awarded $1,070,000 and was one of only three Florida schools to receive the funding.
At this point there is a new webpage, www.sfcollege.edu/hit/, and three new staff members have been added: Grant Coordinator Tracy Jones; Administrative Assistant Rachel Mosawkowski, and Advising Specialist Ann Tison. Four adjunct professors are also on board.
“We will be ready to roll,” by Sept. 30, said Julie Shay, Director for Health Information Technology.
Julie Shay, Tracy Jones and Eugene Jones headed out to Portland, Ore., Aug. 9 for a consortium meeting where a “Train the Trainers” seminar was held. This was the final review of the curriculum that was developed on a national level.
The program’s goal is to train 150 students each year for a total of 300 students during the two-year grant period. There will be online classes available. The online program will serve 50 counties, 38 in Florida and 12 in Alabama.
Funding for this project was made available through the Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services, award number 90CC0078/01 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Public Law 111-5: Information Technology Professionals in Health Care: Community College Consortia to Educate Information Technology Professionals in Health Care.