Health Administration Undergraduate Student of the Year 2013!

Roxanne Tresch is this year's undergraduate student of the year!  CONGRATULATIONS and well done Roxanne!

Roxanne graduated in December with a 3.95 GPA and never needed a course extension.  One thing I noticed in reading comments in Roxanne’s file was that she was very diligent in managing her courses based on what was going for her in her job.  This was an excellent strategy for completing courses on time!  Roxanne started the BSHA in 2006 and I was her instructor for the first course!  Roxanne was a pleasure to work with I am not at all surprised at how well she has done in the program! 

Roxanne commented "I've come to the conclusion that I've been very blessed this year. I've earned my Bachelor's degree in HCA - I just received a promotion at work (which wouldn't have been possible without my BSHA degree)- I'll be a first time Grandmom in July - I'm proudly turning 60 in the fall - AND I was honored as the student of the year. WOW! The SJC experience has been simply fabulous! I'd highly recommend it to anyone with a desire to further their education. It certainly has fulfilled my goals - and then some!"

Summer Session on the Lake 2013

Join us for a week on campus on Sebago Lake and earn credits through hybrid courses!  This is an excellent way to advance your course progress while taking a mini-vacation in beautiful Maine!

Find out more about summer session!

Excellent Article!

Phil DuBois, faculty at SJC recently gave an interview resulting in an article being published.  It's an excellent read!  You can find it here:  http://www.mastersinhealthcare.com/long-term-care-administrator/long-term-care-administrator-profile-philip-dubois/

SJC Student wins McConnell Scholarship!

The American College of Health Care Administrators offers several awards and scholarships to Long-Term Care Administrators and students.  Each year, the ACHCA holds its Convocation in the spring, a 5-day educational and networking event.  Among the awards is the Philip McConnell Scholarship, given to two students in Long-Term Care Administration to cover their travel expenses to Convocation.  In this way, students can learn from the best in the field and rub shoulders with national leaders in long term care. 

The Ohio Chapter of ACHCA oversees this scholarship, since Philip McConnell was a long-time administrator from Ohio.  One of the two winners must be from Ohio.  Cristal Vincent is a student in the Long Term Care Administration program at Saint Joseph's College, and an Ohio resident.  She was recently named a winner of this scholarship, so she will be attending the 47th Convocation in Orlando in April.  This is the second consecutive year that a Saint Joseph's College student has won a McConnell scholarship.  

Congratulations, Cristal, and enjoy your experience in Florida!

Phil DuBois given award!

The American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) is proud to announce Philip DuBois, CNHA, FACHCA as the 2013 recipient of the ACHCA Education Award. The award was presented during the Awards Luncheon at ACHCA’s 47th Annual Convocation and Exposition in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, April 13, 2013. The prestigious Education Award recognizes an individual for educational program(s), seminar(s), or workshop(s) that, because of their content, innovative approach, or other special components, have made an outstanding contribution to education in long-term care.

Phil Dubois with Roxanne Galloway, Chair of ACHCA from Georgia

We are proud of Phil and his dedication!!!  He is a wonderful asset to our programs, as well as to the long-term care industry!

Program Director Receives Doctorate

Twila Weiszbrod, Director of the Health Administration programs at Saint Joseph’s college, recently received her Doctor of Business Administration degree from NorthCentral University. For her dissertation she quantitatively studied the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership competencies in health care, finding a significant correlation!  If anyone wants more information about the findings she would be happy to provide detail if they want to email her.

Dr. Weiszbrod received her Bachelor Science in Health Care Administration from Saint Joseph’s College in 2001 and her Master of Public Administration from California State University at Fresno in 2004. She then served as Adjunct Faculty at Saint Joseph’s College from June 2003 to June 2006 and became Assistant Director of the HA programs in 2006 and Program Director in 2007. Under her direction, the programs have grown and expanded to include programs in Radiologic Science Administration and Catholic Health Leadership and a highly successful affiliation with the Benedictine Health System.

R.T. in D.C.

Brenda Rice will be attending the 15^th annual American Society of Radiologic Technology, R.T. in D.C. grassroots advocacy event in Washington, D.C. on March 3-5^th, acting as an affiliate member on behalf of the Maine Society of Radiologic Technologists.  This event, R.T. in D.C., brings together 150 attendees including Registered Diagnostic Imaging Professionals, Radiation Therapists, students, etc. from across the United States. It provides an opportunity for professional training, working with lobbying experts and learning skills that are used on Capitol Hill to advocate for legislative issues that affect our State Society.

The introduction of the CARE Bill was to establish educational and certification standards for those working in a healthcare setting, who perform various medical imaging examinations, including radiation therapy.

The ASRT has introduced House and Senate bills that pursue basic educational and certification standards for healthcare workers who administer radiologic procedures in each state across the country. The passage of the bill would require minimum standards set by the federal government for personnel who perform medical imaging exams and deliver radiation therapy treatments.

If this bill was passed, it would ensure national safety and quality assurance measures for patients undergoing all types of radiologic procedures. Brenda’s goal is to meet with our State Representatives and Senators to discuss the importance of federal standards for medical imaging professionals and establish guidelines moving forward that would provide more equitable healthcare services for patients across the country. Repeated radiologic examinations and poor quality images cost the health care system millions of dollars annually; not to include excessive exposure to radiation.

Programs NAB-Accredited for Another Five Years!

We are pleased to announce that the National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long-Term Care Administrators (NAB) has approved our request for re-accreditation at its 2012 Mid-Year meeting in San Diego, CA on November 9, 2012.

It is re-accreditation of the Bachelor of Science, Long-Term Care Administration Major (BS/LTCA), which was originally accredited in 1997 and re-accredited in 2002. This was the first time re-accreditation for the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program. Both have been accredited. Saint Joseph’s College is only the second college or university to have a graduate program accredited by NAB and the only one to have both undergraduate and graduate programs accredited by them. The accreditation is for another five years.

Ours is also the only completely online program accredited by NAB.

This accreditation recognizes the quality of the programs and their graduates. It gives us a marketing edge as the primary reason students enroll in our long-term care programs is to achieve licensure as nursing home administrators. Many state licensing boards will automatically accept NAB-accredited programs as meeting their licensure requirements. Others look upon it favorably.

This is a significant achievement for us, keeping us in the forefront of long-term care education.

L-R, Randy Snyder, chairman of the board for NAB, Phil DuBois, Jennifer Johs-Artisensi, Chair of the Education Committee for NAB.

Benefit of an MHA Degree

For work, Sara Sherwood helps people. As a graduate of the University of Maine’s nutrition program who’s currently pursuing a master of health administration at Saint Joseph’s College Online, she’s well qualified for the job. 

Sara, who graduated from UMaine in 2008, works as a Nursing Home Administrator at Collier’s Rehab and Nursing Center in Ellsworth, Maine. Planning to complete her MHA by December of this year, she credits both UMaine and Saint Joseph’s for her professional success.

“They each gave me a fundamental knowledge base that I’ve been able to apply to my work,” said Sara. “UMaine gave me the background in nutrition, and Saint Joseph’s has given me a broader education in health care. They complement each other really well.”

In fact, Saint Joseph’s online MHA is specifically designed to complement programs like UMaine’s nutrition program. The broad focus of the MHA, paired with an undergraduate degree in a more specialized field, prepares students for endless career opportunities. In addition, the MHA’s convenient online delivery allows students to work and study simultaneously.

Even more important than the job opportunities, according to Sara, is the ability to help people.

“I’m a caregiver at heart; I’ve always known I was meant to help,” said Sara. “Deciding to pursue my master degree has helped me do just that!”

With a nutrition degree from UMaine and an MHA from Saint Joseph’s, students can pursue lucrative careers in many areas, just to name a few¬

•           Health facility management

•           Nutrition

•           Wellness programming

•           Insurance

•           Pharmaceuticals

•           Education

If you are interested in learning more about online degree programs at Saint Joseph’s College, please call 1-800-752-4723 or visit online.sjcme.edu.

ACHCA Winter Marketplace 2012

On Friday, Nov. 30 at 10:15 am, Phil DuBois will be speaking on the topic of Ethical Decision Making in the LTC Environment at the Annual American College of Health Care Administrators Winter Marketplace 2012 at M Resort in Las Vegas.  This year, the ACHCA Winter Marketplace looks better than ever.  The continuing education will be approved for assisted living administrators, nursing home administrators and nurses.

·         The theme of this year's conference is, Reaching for the Gold: The Leadership Edge.

 Choose from educational sessions on such key topics as:

• Leadership
• Marketing
• MDS
• Professional Certification

Register online today  at www.achca.org and benefit from advance registration discounts. Or mail/fax our registration pdf form.

ACHCA has negotiated an excellent group rate at our conference hotel, The M Resort in Las Vegas. To make hotel reservations, book online through ACHCA’s website and request the ACHCA group rate or book your room online!! 

Visit www.achca.org for more information.