By Jeff Murphy,
April 16, 2018
WARRENSBURG, MO – With an ongoing goal to establish new relationships with businesses
and organizations that meet critical education needs in the state of Missouri, the
University of Central Missouri today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Lee’s Summit Medical Center – HCA Midwest (LSMC). It benefits students seeking careers
in the health care industry and hospital employees who want to advance their careers.
The MOU was signed during a brief ceremony at The Missouri Innovation Campus (MIC),
which is also the home for UCM-Lee’s Summit, the university’s hub for post-secondary
adult education, certification and professional development opportunities in the Kansas
City metropolitan area. Adding their signatures to the agreement were Laurel Hogue,
UCM’s vice provost for extended studies, and Pat Kueny, chief operating officer at
Lee’s Summit Medical Center.
The memorandum notes that UCM and LSMC will collaborate on a wide range of initiatives
that include working with the university’s Office of Career Services to assist students
with career exploration activities such as resume creation, job posting services for
positions at LSMC, mock interviews, and mutual participation in career expos offered
by both organizations.
Additionally, HCA will post positions to the UCM hiring portal, for graduates who
are career certified in programs related to medical billing and coding; pharmacy,
phlebotomy, and patient care technicians; and medical assistants. UCM’s nursing program
will use LSMC as a nursing clinical site, and the university also will provide training
for the medical center’s nursing education staff with regard to SIM Educator’s Certification,
using SimMan patient simulators at the MIC.
The agreement calls for the university to support various training needs related to
the development of surgical nurses. It also will facilitate the development of an
ethical leadership certification as a stackable credential with the university’s Master
of Business Administration degree program offered in Lee’s Summit. This is for an
advanced degree option for the practicing physician’s group, and includes medical
bio ethics in the curriculum.
The MOU provides opportunities for guest lecturers at the university and LSMC, taking
advantage of each organization’s expert faculty and staff. It also states that UCM
will waive the application fee for all HCA employees who are seeking a certificate,
master’s or bachelor’s degree from the university; LSMC will participate in sponsored
training programs using the university’s simulation lab at the MIC for on-boarding
training; UCM’s Professional Education group will provide an organizational self and
needs assessment for its leadership team; and both organizations will partner on community
events.
“We are excited about partnering with Lee's Summit Medical Center, to assist them
in developing their programs and associates. We have been working with their executive
team and department leadership over the last few months in finding solutions to exceed
their current and future needs,” said Joe Mullins, UCM consultant for Workforce and
professional Development, MIC.
The MIC opened in August 2017, and is a joint initiative made possible by a trailblazing
agreement between UCM and the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District that brings together
postsecondary and secondary education into one facility. The two-story, 137,000-square-foot
building is owned by the school district, and UCM has a 20-year lease agreement for
60 percent of the space. This includes high-technology labs that are occupied by the
university’s Department of Nursing, and will be essential to meeting the terms of
this MOU.
LSMC is a part of the HCA Midwest Health System. Located on the east side of Lee’s
Summit, it is a full-service, 64-bed acute care facility that serves its community
and surrounding areas. It is both an Accredited Chest Pain Center and a Joint Commission
Certified Primary Stroke Center. It is supported by a medical staff of more than 300
phyusicians representing 40 specialties, and more than 500 highly trained staff members.
To learn more about the MIC and UCM’s nursing program, visit ucmo.edu/mic and ucmo.edu/nursing.
For more information about Lee’s Summit Medical Center – HCA Midwest, visit leessummitmedicalcenter.com.
