Northside Cherokee Donates $500,000 To Reinhardt University

WALESKA, GA -- Northside Hospital Cherokee is continuing its longstanding support for Reinhardt University with a gift of $500,000 for the School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Northside Cherokee CEO Billy Hayes said his company is honored to help the university as it launch the new program.

“As our North Georgia communities continue to grow, the need for health care professionals, especially well-qualified, highly educated nurses, is accelerating at a pace that is hard to imagine," he added.

Northside’s new replacement hospital at 450 Northside Cherokee Boulevard in Canton is scheduled to open its doors on May 6.

With the opening of the new Northside Hospital Cherokee and the launching of Reinhardt University School of Nursing and Health Sciences, "the two have come together in an effort to provide a quality educational nursing experience, as well as potential employment opportunities for Reinhardt nursing graduates," Reinhardt said.

“For many years, Northside Hospital Cherokee has served Cherokee County and the larger community in our area with high quality health care, and we are grateful to have garnered this kind of support from Northside,” said Reinhardt President Dr. Kina S. Mallard. “We have already begun applying this generous gift in our efforts to recruit exceptional nursing faculty, enroll students who will make up the first class, develop curriculum and garner additional support that is absolutely necessary for the launch of this program.”

Reinhardt University’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences recently received initial approval from the Georgia Board of Nursing on its plans to offer the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. While it awaits final approval from GBN and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), Reinhardt is recruiting its first cohort of students for classes that will begin in January 2018 and cohorts for 2018-2019 and beyond.

“The Northside impact on the Atlanta region continues to grow as we develop our health resources more broadly,” said Lee Echols, vice president of marketing for the Northside Hospital health care system. “We hope that our patient care legacy, combined with the new Northside Hospital Cherokee, will encourage interest in th is exciting Reinhardt program.”

Reinhardt’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program will be housed on its Waleska campus. It will utilize the labs and classrooms of Chattahoochee Technical College's Appalachian Campus to gain hands-on experience with state-of- the-art equipment through a lease arrangement with CTC.

For more information on Reinhardt’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences, visit www.reinhardt.edu/bsn.

Photo Caption: Pictured in the Women’s Center Atrium at the new Northside Hospital Cherokee are, from left: Mary Jane O’Dell, education coordinator for Northside Hospital Cherokee, Billy Hasty, chair of the Reinhardt University Board of Trustees and a member of the Board of Directors of Northside Hospital Healthcare System, Billy Hayes, CEO of Northside Hospital Cherokee, Dr. Kina S. Mallard, president of Reinhardt University, and Dr. Glynis Blackard, dean of Reinhardt’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences.