Two local higher education institutions: the City Colleges of Chicago and the University of Chicago said Tuesday they will invest in new learning facilities on the South Side, launching a plan to bring healthcare-related educational opportunities and jobs to area residents.
City Colleges of Chicago will open a full nursing pathway at Kennedy-King College in Englewood, with programs for an associate degree in nursing, a license in practical nursing, a basic nursing assistant program and general education courses.
By the fall, the Kennedy-King program is expected to create paths for roughly 50 basic nursing assistant students, with spots for 50 future associate degree earners and 10 licensed practical nurse degree earners to be in place by 2026. Starting in 2028, the school will have room for 100 students seeking an associate degree in nursing.
In addition, a partnership between the community college system and the University of Chicago will allow for the first clinical lab tech program in Chicago, bringing with it about 600 jobs, the schools said Tuesday in a release.
City Colleges and the University of Chicago will build two new learning facilities in the Washington Park neighborhood – the UChicago Medicine Clinical Labs and the Malcolm X College Learning Center – to accommodate the program, where nursing students can complete clinical rotations and lab techs can aid the hospital in cancer diagnostic needs.
The facilities will be built between the CTA Green Line Garfield Blvd. station and S. Martin Luther King Drive. Construction on the two facilities is expected to break ground in 2025 and open during the 2026-27 academic year. The opening will coincide with a cancer pavilion set to be in operation in 2027.
The Malcolm X College Learning Center will cost $40 million to build on land owned by the CTA, a school spokesperson said. Once built, the center will serve up to 800 students.
The UChicago Medicine Clinical Labs will be built on land owned by the University of Chicago and bring approximately 550 jobs to the neighborhood, according to the release. Cost estimates to build the UChicago facility were not immediately known Tuesday evening.
City Colleges will also partner with Chicago Public Schools in the area to create a pipeline to healthcare education and professions, according to the release.