MARIETTA, OHIO— Washington State College of Ohio (WSCO) has named Adrienne Hellinger as the new Director of the Respiratory Therapy program.
Hellinger has served as an adjunct instructor of WSCO’s respiratory therapy program for the last five years. A 2006 alumna of the program herself, she believes serving in the capacity of student, instructor and now director, gives her a unique perspective and a fresh vision for the program.
Her plan is to build on to the program’s notoriety and take it to the next level. “I think the program has a really good reputation now. Lots of local hospitals hire students from our program every year.” Washington State’s Respiratory Therapy program has a 100-percent pass rate on the licensure exam and a 100-percent job placement rate this year. The program also has a three-year 100 percent satisfaction rate from students and employers.
She said it’s a point of pride that her program’s graduates are able to successfully compete for positions both locally and across the country. She noted that several alumni have been recruited by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a nationally ranked pediatric acute care facility in Columbus, OH with affiliations with Ohio State University College of Medicine. “This is a big deal,” she emphasized. “We are a small, rural program here in the corner of the state and Nationwide is in the middle of Columbus and in close proximity to several large schools. It’s impressive that our students are going there and getting those jobs.”
Looking to the future, Hellinger said she wants to take the classroom experience up a notch technologically speaking. “My short term goal for the program is to make a big jump in technology.” She explained that as professionals, students will work with a range of high-tech, lifesaving equipment, and they get continuous exposure and experience with it in the program, but she wants the students to be comfortable with all types of technology they’ll use in their work environment. Many healthcare systems are almost completely paperless, so she is proposing the implementation of iPads and transitioning to ebooks. “A lot of charting now is right at the bedside, you wheel a computer to the patient and you do point-of-care charting. I want our students getting used to that from the beginning.”
Ultimately, Hellinger said her vision for the program is to build on its widely recognized reputation for being one of the best resources for respiratory therapists. “We want employers to be assured that respiratory therapy graduates from Washington State have the skills, knowledge, and clinical experience required to be successful.”
For additional information about the Respiratory Therapy Technology program, visit wscc.edu/ respiratory-therapy/ or contact Adrienne Hellinger at ahellinger@wscc.edu or 740-885-5690. Admission to this program is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
