SSM Health St. Mary’s and Good Samaritan Hospitals have been awarded Kaskaskia College’s Business and Industry Partnership Award.
In the introduction, the college noted at Thursday night’s annual awards program that for more than 50 years, the two hospitals have served as primary clinical training sites, playing an essential role in preparing generations of heath care professionals for the community.
Centralia native, Kaskaskia College Graduate, and now President of the two hospitals, Damon Harbison, accepted the award.
“It’s such an honor. We have been such strong partners with Kaskaskia College since day one, and that continues to grow each and every year,” Harbison said. “It seems like we’re getting so innovative together with our pipeline of professionals, not only in healthcare but in other areas. It is so meaningful to be able to work with KC to help them with curriculum and what we’re seeing in the future of medicine. They’re changing the classrooms and the skillset, and then we see that when we hire graduates. It is a very strong partnership, and we could not have the dedicated staff that we do without it.”
The partnership extends across multiple programs, including nursing, respiratory therapy, radiologic technology, and other fields.
