CENTERVILLE, Ohio (June 23, 2010) Nursing shortages are critical in most areas of the country and Ohio faces similar challenges filling the gap between open positions and the number of available nurses. However, the Dayton area has a strong safety net to help it meet the demand for nurses â€" Fortis College in Centerville.

Fortis College operates one of the state's largest nursing programs and is number one for nursing among all proprietary schools in the market. The campus currently is training 600 nursing candidates - enough to fill the more than 460 open jobs in Dayton alone for registered and licensed practical nurses posted this month on just one online site.1

Building upon the mission it began as RETS, the Fortis College campus in Centerville is stepping up to address those shortages.

"We recognized early on that Ohio's nursing shortage would not be resolved easily or quickly and made it our mission to help fill the state's significant need through the next decade and beyond for healthcare workers, nurses in particular," said Fortis College Centerville location President Dr. Richard Rucker. "With some 600 candidates training right now to become nurses, the Fortis College nursing program is one of the strongest and most successful in the region."

Dr. Rucker does not envision demand for healthcare workers and nurses will diminish any time soon, with projections issued by the state of Ohio supporting that belief. Consider:
* Through 2016, most of the nearly 29,000 new jobs created each year in Ohio are expected to be in service-providing industries, such as health care.2

* Of the 10 industries projected to see the largest increases in new jobs, half (five) are in health services.2

* Registered nurses are projected to have the most annual openings â€" 4,425.2


* Registered nursing jobs are forecast to grow by nearly a quarter (22.6%) over the next six years.3

* Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses top the health care category of projected in-demand jobs occupations in Ohio through 2016.4

Upon graduation and successful completion of respective licensing exams, Fortis College nursing students will have been trained to enter a professional occupation in which demand and job growth are expected to remain high through the next decade, and likely beyond. And, according to Dr. Rucker, his campus is poised to grow along with them.

"Our growth has mandated that we increase our campus footprint to accommodate a larger student population, expand our program portfolio and implement state-of-the-art simulation labs to enhance our nursing, allied health and EMT/Paramedic students' ability to provide excellent patient care," Dr. Rucker said.

"We don't want the community to think our name change has changed anything other than our name. We remain the same school we were, with the same ownership; however, our new Fortis alliance means we can grow through expanded resources, enhanced expertise and the strength in numbers the affiliation with other campuses brings," he added.

According to Dr. Rucker, the college, which has been an integral part of the community for 57 years, will be even more so now as it opens the campus to the community by inviting hospitals, long-term care facilities and emergency responders to enhance their patient care skills by training in its simulation labs.

As part of the collaborative Fortis network of 26 colleges and institutes in 10 states, the Centerville campus will continue to embrace the same core values for which it is known, but now enjoys added resources and access to higher level educational program offerings and technology. A leading post-secondary network of colleges and institutes that engages students in a powerful learning and training experience for lifelong growth, Fortis offers degree, diploma and certificate-granting programs that produce "job ready" employees and is affiliated with the Denver School of Nursing, St. Paul's School of Nursing, MedVance Institute, All State Career School, Medix, Tri-State Business Institute and Berdan Institute.

About Fortis College
Fortis College is located on a modern, nine-acre campus in Centerville, Ohio, approximately eight miles south of Dayton. The school occupies a 56,800 square foot building in which all classes and labs are held. The campus includes a comprehensively equipped HVACR lab/workshop with residential and commercial A/C, heat pump and refrigeration equipment, medical assisting lab, two nursing labs, and a science lab, along with more than 200 computer work stations and in excess of 2,000 volumes and periodicals. This summer, the campus will expand to an additional 22,000-square-foot building adjacent to its current location.

Fortis offers campus-based Practical Nursing, Medical Coding Specialist, Emergency Medical Technician and HVAC/R diploma programs, as well as Medical Assisting, Electronic Engineering Technology, Paramedic, Criminal Justice, Paralegal and Registered Nursing Associate Degree programs. Students have an option to take hybrid general education courses optionally through a "ground school" classroom delivery or an online delivery. A State Trained Nursing Assistant (STNA) certificate program is also offered. In addition, Fortis' Distance Education division offers Associate Degree programs covering Business Management (Accounting and Human Resources), Medical Administrative Assistant, Digital Graphic Design, Medical Billing and Coding, and Criminal Justice/Homeland Security.

Accreditations & Approvals
Fortis College (formerly RETS College) is institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and, as RETS, achieved the following programmatic recognitions:
* Medical Assisting associate degree program - accredited by the American Association of
Medical Assistants/Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
(AAMA/CAAHEP);

* Paralegal associate degree program - approved by the American Bar Association (ABA);

* Heating, Ventilating, AC & Refrigeration program - accredited by the Partnership for Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA);

* Practical Nursing and the Associate Degree in Nursing programs - provisional approval by the Ohio Board of Nursing (full approval projected in the next few months);

* Associate Degree in Nursing program - accredited by the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC);

* Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic programs - approved by the Ohio Department of Public Safety Emergency Medical Services.

Fortis College is registered by the State Board of Career Colleges and Schools, license number 05-09-1789T. For information, call 937-433-3410.

1Oodle â€" jobs.oodle.com (June 16, 2010)
2Ohio Department of Job and Family Services 2016 Ohio Job Outlook Employment Projections (Dec. 2008).
3Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Occupational Trends 2006-2016 (June 2009).
4Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Buckeye Top Fifty: 2006-2016/Ohio’s High-Wage Occupations in Demand (Dec. 2008).