Del Tech opens $3.4M health care training center

Delaware Technical Community College and Highmark Delaware cut the ribbon on Tuesday to the new health care center at the Charles L. Terry Jr. Campus in Dover. | PHOTO COURTESY OF DEL TECH

DOVER – Delaware Technical Community College and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware opened the newly renovated, $3.4 million health care training center on the Dover campus on Tuesday.

The Highmark Healthcare Center of Excellence is a 8,700-square-foot facility that began renovations on a 49-year-old building in August 2020. The center will offer 12 short-term certification programs, with a projected fall enrollment of 155 students in allied health programs.

“The state-of-the-art classrooms and labs in this new center will be used to train students for allied health careers to meet some of the highest demand labor market needs in Delaware,” Dr. Mark T. Brainard, Delaware Tech president said in a press release. 

The new center was funded by the state Higher Education Economic Development Investment Fund, state capital project funds, and a $1 million donation from Highmark Delaware’s BluePrints for the Community grant program in December 2021. 

“We are grateful to Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware for this generous donation and continued support of the College and our mission,” Brainard said. 

Highmark’s contribution supported  laboratory equipment upgrades, technology enhancements, a scholarship for allied health programs and a creation of a student support fund.

“Collaboration between Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware and Del Tech spans many years and a variety of ways as we have collectively taken action to address workforce needs within the constantly changing health industry,” Nick Moriello, president of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware, said. 

“We are excited for the next phase of this exciting investment with the College, which is part of Highmark’s longstanding commitment to the health care workforce in Delaware, totaling more than $10 million since 2007,” Moriello added.                

The center will address the needs of Delaware’s health care industry by preparing students for health care-related jobs and careers.