St. Luke's College of Health Sciences

Saint Luke's College of Health Sciences is a nursing school associated with Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, Missouri.

Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences is affiliated with Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City. The Hospital established the diploma program in 1903 as a department within the hospital. Nurses were trained at the diploma level until 1994 when the College received accreditation as a baccalaureate degree granting institution. Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences is currently accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The Baccalaureate Degree Program in Nursing and the Master's Degree Program in Nursing and the Post-Graduate APRN Certificate Program at Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences are fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

On May 28, 2010 the College was incorporated as a standalone 501(c)(3) educational institution with Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City as the sole member of the corporation. Shortly after its formation in 2010, the College Board of Directors selected a new president and adopted a master plan to become financially independent from the Hospital by 2015. Growing the enrollment five-fold among other strategies helped the College achieve this goal by 2013.

In 2012, an MSN program was started with two tracks: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) and Nurse Educator. Today, the College offers upper-division baccalaureate and master’s level nursing education to top tier students. BSN track students apply to the College after completing two years of prerequisites at an accredited college or university. In fall of 2015, the College began an RN-BSN track for practicing nurses who wish to upgrade to a baccalaureate.

The College is located on historic Westport Road four blocks north of Saint Luke’s Hospital where the students go for most of their clinical training. The main building, containing 39,000 square feet, was purchased and totally renovated in the fall of 2011 and occupied in January 2012. A major feature of the new facility is a state-of-the-art Simulation Center, featuring two fully simulated hospital rooms, one fully simulated birthing room, control rooms, debriefing rooms and a ten-bed skills lab where students practice clinical skills. Simulation offers a safe, controlled learning environment for students to practice on high fidelity manikins prior to encountering actual patients.

Historical Highlights

• 1885-All Saints Hospital was opened at 10th and Campbell Streets.
• 1887-The training school for nurses was established.
• 1903-Saint Luke's Hospital was declared the legal successor of All Saints Hospital and the School of Nursing was established as a department within the Hospital.
• 1906-Miss Virginia Pate was the first graduate of the diploma program.
• 1920-The School of Nursing relocated to a new hospital and a nurses' residence was built at the site, which was then Mill Creek and 44th Streets.
• 1946-A four-story building was erected to accommodate classrooms, laboratories, library, offices, and residence space for approximately 200 students.
• 1972-The library was moved to the Helen F. Spencer Center for Education.
• 1991-The first class of students was admitted for baccalaureate nursing education at Saint Luke's College.
• 1992-The final class graduated from the diploma program culminating in 3,047 students having received their nursing diploma from Saint Luke's Hospital School of Nursing.
• 1994-The College received accreditation as a baccalaureate degree granting institution.
• 2010-College Board adopted a master plan to grow the institution five-fold and become financially independent from the Hospital by 2015 (both goals were met by 2013).
• 2010-Eighteen classes have completed coursework resulting in 867 graduates from the BSN degree program.
• 2010-The College was renamed Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences in conjunction with a change to a private, not-for-profit, and corporation status.
• 2011-Saint Luke's College was moved into a newly renovated building on Westport Road from their location on Ward Parkway.
• 2012-The Graduate Program was launched with Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Educator Degrees and Certificates.
• 2015-The RN-BSN was created for nurses in partnership with Saint Luke's Health System.
• 2015-The master’s degree in nursing and post-graduate APRN certificate program at Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences was fully accredited on February 2, 2015.

External links

• Official website