Dr. Bryan Stewart is the President of the Medical Campus of Miami Dade College. Opened in 1977, the Medical Campus trains allied health professionals to improve the quality of life in the community and become an integral part of the healthcare team. In addition, the Benjamín León School of Nursing offers a variety of in-demand options and has trained more than 50 percent of Miami- Dade County’s nurses. Miami Dade College (MDC) provides extraordinary higher education access to diverse South Florida students. More than half of MDC students are the first in their families to attend college, and 48.3% of students live below the federal poverty level.
Dr. Stewart shares, “We are happy to partner with the Health Foundation of South Florida to serve more underserved and underrepresented populations in South Florida and to help address the unprecedented nursing shortage facing our community’s hospital and health systems.”
Nearly 7,000 students at MDC have selected Nursing as their course of study. Support from the Health Foundation will benefit students from three groups: Rising Scholars, Presidential Scholars, and other students of color. These students will specifically use the funds as they complete their core curriculum and enter the Nursing program, assisting with purchasing textbooks, uniforms, and supplies and meeting all enrollment requirements.
“The Health Foundation is so creative. This grant will allow us to support students beginning their careers in health programs as well as our current nursing students, and it will help us create boot camps for new students. I believe this is an innovative and extremely important partnership,” Stewart concludes.
The pandemic spotlighted shortages in the profession nationwide and in South Florida and catalyzed MDC’s deepened engagement with healthcare providers. As a result, Dr. Stewart has developed collaborative agreements with all the major health systems in South Florida, including Anchor Alliance members.
