HCA Healthcare
November 02, 2022

Source: Nashville Business Journal
Author: Olivia Pulsinelli
Date: October 31, 2022

Galen College of Nursing, a private institution owned by Nashville-based HCA Healthcare Inc., is expanding to Houston.

The school will open a campus in the Westway One Building at 11210 Equity Drive along Beltway 8 in northwest Houston, according to an Oct. 25 announcement from Galen and HCA Houston Healthcare. This will be Galen's fourth Texas campus, joining locations in Austin, Richardson and San Antonio.

The new campus comes as the nation’s health care industry is in the grips of a nursing shortage, caused in part by an aging population and an aging workforce of caregivers. Approximately 1 million registered nurses are expected to leave the profession by 2030, according to a report in Health Affairs.

Initially, the Houston campus will offer a three-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program starting Jan. 9, 2023. A Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse to Associate Degree in Nursing Bridge (LPN/LVN to ADN Bridge) program and Vocational Nursing (VN) program will be added later. Galen currently is accepting applications for all three programs.

Online, Galen also offers RN-to-BSN and Master of Science in Nursing programs.

"We look forward to working with Galen to bridge nursing education and practice, not only to expand our workforce, but also to enhance new graduate preparedness," Kelli Nations, division chief nurse executive at HCA Houston Healthcare, said in a statement. "In addition, we’re excited to have our second HCA Healthcare Center for Clinical Advancement co-located within the Galen campus.

"With the new center, Galen students and HCA Houston Healthcare nurses alike will have the opportunity to enhance their skills in a leading-edge learning environment with the aid of advanced simulation technology and evidence-based education strategies that replicate real clinical situations."

HCA Houston Healthcare is the second-largest health care system in the Houston area, based on its 3,377 local licensed beds. It has 13 hospitals, 10 outpatient surgery centers, 11 freestanding emergency centers and several freestanding diagnostic imaging facilities across the Houston area.

HCA purchased Galen in 2020. In January, HCA CEO Sam Hazen said Galen had 12 new nursing schools in its pipeline, with as many as eight having already opened. 

The hospital giant is Middle Tennessee’s largest publicly traded company, according to Nashville Business Journal research, with nearly 11,000 local employees and $58.75 billion of revenue in 2021. 

Separately, Denver College of Nursing also recently announced it will expand to Houston. That private for-profit institution will open its first Texas campus in the Energy Corridor in January.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates nursing employment will grow 9%, creating 194,500 average annual openings for registered nurses over the next 10 years, according to the announcement from HCA Houston Healthcare and Galen College of Nursing.