Salve to launch health care administration degree program

By PBN Staff
Twitter: @ProvBusNews

NEWPORT – Salve Regina University will launch a new Bachelor of Science degree program in health care administration and management beginning in the upcoming fall 2013 semester, the school announced Monday.

Enrollment for the new program is currently underway for both full-time students at the school’s Newport campus and for its continuing education students at the Center for Adult Education in Warwick.

In a release announcing the program, the university said that the new health care degree program “responds to a growing need for medical and health services managers.” The school cited figures from the Labor Department, which states that employment of medical-related management positions is expected to grow 16 percent from 2008 – 2018, faster than the average for all occupations.

The school already offers of Master of Science degree program in health care administration and management.

“We assembled a curriculum that ensures graduates have the business acumen to respond to changes in the health care industry, and also the broader understanding of global health, access to care, spread of disease and disease prevention,” Mark Hough, Salve’s graduate program director in health care administration and management, said in prepared remarks.

Hough is part of the curriculum development team for the new undergraduate degree program. “This goal was accomplished by creating a curriculum that integrates business knowledge with course work in health care, nursing, social work, sociology and more,” he said.

“The balance between business knowledge and a larger, more conceptual view of the social issues surrounding disease, health care and access will give our graduates the perspective they need to be effective leaders in the field,” Traci Warrington, dean of professional studies, said in a statement.

Students enrolled in the undergraduate degree program are eligible to apply to an accelerated bachelor’s/master’s degree program in either health care administration and management or business administration during their junior year.