Carilion's Jefferson College to merge with Radford, creating Roanoke-based health sciences program

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Jefferson College to merge with RU, creating Roanoke-based health sciences program

By Luanne Rife [e-mail] 981-3209 2 hrs ago

Correction
Radford University's Waldron College of Health Sciences will continue to educate students both in Radford and in Roanoke. This was unclear in an earlier version of the story.

Faculty, students, alumni and community leaders were informed of the plans during meetings, phone calls and emails throughout the morning. The merger of Jefferson into Radford’s Waldron College of Health Sciences is expected to take up to two years to complete as leaders of the three entities determine how to combine the private college with the public university, which programs to keep, expand or create, and the types of housing and other services the students will require.

The announcement follows a similar one by Virginia Tech in 2016 to center its new School of Neuroscience in Roanoke while doubling the size of its research institute and partnering with Carilion and the city to create an innovation district centered on health sciences.

“The nidus of all health careers is here in Roanoke,” said Nancy Agee, CEO of Carilion, which owns Jefferson College. “The opportunity is here for Jefferson College and Radford University to have all the health careers here as we flesh out even more the health sciences and technology campus. So that’s the really exciting part of this is being able to bring a lot more students to the area to grow our whole focus on health sciences.”

Nidus: I've never seen that word before. It's for real.

[underpants]

1. Carilion is the monster of healthcare in Roanoke

We had a family member there within the last year and he got outstanding care.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. When I read that a company named Carillion had gone bankrupt, I was concerned. It turns out that

there's a company in the UK named Carillion. It is not the same as the giant healthcare provider.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carillion

I haven't been to Roanoke since Carilion got big. I hear it's all over the place.

[unc70]

3. Nidus use there is a bit strange

It normally means an area of bacterial infection or where insects have deposited their eggs. I would think that “nexus” would be a more appropriate word.