Albany Technical College Blog
I wasn’t born at Phoebe Putney Hospital. I didn’t start or spend my entire life in this community. However, I’ve lived here longer than I lived anywhere else. I’ve lived in Dougherty County for 26 of my 68 years. I am more at home in Albany than anywhere else I’ve been. We are a resilient community. I arrived during the recovery from the flood of 1994. I’ve experienced with you the flood of 1998, the tornados of 2018, Hurricane Michael, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our community has experienced plant closures while simultaneously adding manufacturing jobs. We’ve recovered and then thrived after each setback.
A combination of resources are available in Albany Tech’s eight-county service areas that could allow high school students to earn an associate degree, a workforce diploma, or two technical certificates of credit. Georgia’s dual enrollment program provides the first 30 credits, and the Rebuild SW Georgia Initiative can provide an additional 30 credits for children who are economically disadvantaged. The children from both affluent and economically disadvantaged families will have an opportunity to earn an associate degree from Albany Technical College while they are still in high school.
Read more: Dual Enrollment - A Generational Blessing, Only if Utilized
Albany Technical College has made plans to resume offering a more robust fall semester 2021 course calendar. We understand that it is our responsibility to make the learning and teaching environment as safe as possible. We also understand that other activities related to college attendance require safe interaction between students and our staff. We intend to do as much as we can, as safely as we can, as quickly as we can.
It’s not news that we have an acute nursing shortage across the entire length and breadth of the United States. Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, reported a nurse shortage of 500. On NBC nightly news with Lester Holt, Parkland also said that they have temporarily closed labor and delivery to devote more space to treat COVID-19 patients. Our local hospital has fared no better. Scott Steiner, President and CEO of Phoebe Putney Health System reported an estimated 300 nurse shortage at Phoebe Putney Health Systems and a 20,000 nurse shortage in Georgia.
Read more: Preparing high school students to help solve the nursing shortage
In 2020, during the worse days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many of us were concerned about a sluggish economic recovery or even a recession. To date, we are fortunate that the initial recovery has been robust. We are grateful to see our friends and neighbors return to work and are relieved to see the help wanted signs. I’m an optimist. Sometimes however, there is a cloud that accompanies the silver lining.
Read more: The Relevance of Technical Colleges in the Post Pandemic Era