April 12, 2023 (Middletown, Conn.) — Middlesex Community College recently modernized their allied health and phlebotomy lab facilities in Snow Hall to better accommodate students pursuing high-demand career programs in the health industry.
Brand new lab: Michelle Fuhrman, Director of Workforce Development Programs; Kim Hogan, Interim CEO; Diane Bordonaro, CT State Chief Regional Workforce Development Officer; Ed Tessman, Associate Dean for Campus Operations
An existing health lab was upgraded and a general purpose classroom was converted into a new lab. College officials recognized the new lab with a ribbon-cutting event on April 6.
“We take pride in providing our local and statewide businesses and institutions with educational opportunities to prepare their workforce,” said Middlesex Interim CEO Kimberly Hogan. “We educate students to meet continuous demands for job growth, especially now in health fields such as certified nurse aides (CNAs) and phlebotomy technicians. Our new and upgraded labs give these students training experience similar to a real-world hospital.”
The additional allied health lab has new floors, cabinets, student desks, instructor’s desk, blood-drawing stations, hospital bed, and two sinks. The room also features hybrid flexible, or HyFlex, classroom technology for virtual lectures. The existing lab received new beds and new flooring material to replace carpeting.
Upgraded lab with new flooring
“These new facilities lets us run multiple courses at Middlesex and in 10 weeks gets students out into the workforce,” said Michelle Fuhrman, Director of Workforce Development Programs at the college. “The campus room simulates a hospital room, as we also collaborate with our local healthcare facilities, MidState Medical Center in Meriden and Middlesex Health in Middletown.”
The upgrades, which began last summer, were funded by the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).
“The new allied health lab allows the college to be innovative. We started our first phlebotomy lab in Meriden to practice on campus. To see this today is so exciting. Middlesex students will now be caring for our families and for us in the future,” said Diane Bordonaro, Chief Regional Workforce Development Officer for CT State Community College.
Middlesex Community College is part of the state’s effort to quickly reskill workers through the Statewide Healthcare Industry Pathways Project (CT SHIP) grant program, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Labor. This program provides students in healthcare career pathways accelerated training opportunities at facilities such as the new labs at the college. Doreen Forbes-Rogers, project director for CT SHIP, represented the program at the ribbon-cutting event.
For more details about credit and noncredit health career programs at Middlesex Community College, please visit the college’s website at mxcc.edu/health-careers or watch CT State’s health career video produced by the Center for New Media at Middlesex.
Middlesex Community College is among 12 community colleges in Connecticut merging on July 1, 2023, to become CT State Community College, one of the largest community colleges in the country and largest in New England, dedicated to quality, access and affordability. CT State students will be able to apply once and take classes at any campus. In addition to Middlesex (Middletown & Meriden), locations include Asnuntuck (Enfield), Capital (Hartford), Gateway (New Haven & North Haven), Housatonic (Bridgeport), Manchester, Naugatuck Valley (Danbury & Waterbury), Northwestern Connecticut (Winsted), Norwalk, Quinebaug Valley (Danielson & Willimantic), Three Rivers (Norwich), and Tunxis (Farmington). Find out more at ctstate.edu/becoming.
