Board of Trustees Approves Purchase of New Medical Delivery System
Garden City, KS-The Garden City Community College Board of Trustees approved the purchase of a new Med dose delivery system for the Corley Simulation lab during their monthly meeting Tuesday night inside the President's Conference Room.
"There's a central place for medications on the floor," Vice Chair Merilyn Douglass said. "These movable carts have a lot of information, and this system puts everything together. It helps to alleviate med errors. It's a really good deal."
The new equipment will cost a total of $55,039.60 and will be funded by two grants: the Perkins Initiative Grant ($32,022) and the Corley Fund ($23,017.60).
"This is an area where students really needed to improve," College President, Dr. Ryan Ruda said. "This particular system will enhance students' knowledge regarding specific questions on the NCLEX exam."
Currently, the lab has two outdated medication delivery systems that are more than 30 years old, which makes it a challenge for faculty and students to complete safety considerations that are a critical part of medication delivery in 2020.
"Several factors play into the understanding of the category "safety" in healthcare, but medication delivery remains at the top of the list," Nursing Director, Patsy Zeller explained.
The board also approved a purchasing agreement with Tatro Plumbing for $226,125 to buy two new HVAC cooling tower replacements. Tatro will subcontract with C&C group to install the components. The current system has numerous leaks and has reached the end of its lifecycle. If it isn't replaced, the entire campus would lose air-conditioning capabilities.
Meantime, the board also approved a new computer support specialist certification program, which gives students additional opportunities in the field of computer science. The Kansas Department of Labor estimates an 11 percent increase in the total number of jobs between 2018 and 2028 with a total of 730 openings annually. The median annual salary is $45,120 in the state of Kansas.
In his monthly President's Report, Dr. Ruda congratulated the Buster Red Meats team, who won its sixth National Championship in program history while setting school records in both the beef grading and questions section.
"Credit Dr. Alexander and his students for the work that went into this," Dr. Ruda said. "To do this while in a pandemic, is truly a great achievement."
The President also highlighted the Garden City Community College Phi Theta Kappa chapter, along with public safety and criminal justice students, who teamed up recently to collect items and stuff stockings for the Travis Bachman Memorial Christmas Stocking Drive. They stuffed 89 stockings and collected $273 for shipping.
In addition, Dr. Ruda announced four grant recipients that were fully funded by the Mary Jo Williams Charitable Trust: 1) Mary Jo Williams Comprehensive Learning Center was awarded $19,206.40 to purchase 11 additional private-study cubicles and five study tables, 2) the Garden City Community College Auto-Tech Program was awarded $18,168 to purchase two brake lathe kits, 3) the carpentry program will use $6,808 to purchase a SawStop Table, and 4) the counseling and advising staff were awarded $19,747.65 to purchase 68 Google Chromebooks.
"This is very generous," Dr. Ruda said. "These grants will total more than $60,000."
Finally, the Board voted to go into executive session where no action was taken.
The Board of Trustees will next meet during a special session on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8 a.m.