Seton Family of Hospitals is teaming up with local educators to start a new clinical education center at Brackenridge Hospital in downtown Austin.
The University of Texas, Austin Community College and Concordia University are partnering with Seton. Classes will begin in the fall of 2007.
The center aims to boost the number of nurses.
"When Seton takes a look at our needs over the next 15 years, we are going to need to hire 3,500 nurses," CEO Charles Barnett said.
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Nursing shortage
The growing demand for healthcare created an urgent need for medical professionals.
 
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Central Texas only graduates about 300 nurses a year. The new center will train future nurses, doctors and pharmacists. Research shows most medical professionals end up working where they studied.
"If we are not able to begin to increase those numbers, we just may not have enough people to keep up with that growing demand that we are going to have here in Central Texas," Greg Hartman of Seton said.
Because of the demand, the Seton hospital family also expects to double in size in the next 10 to 12 years. They plan to open three new hospitals in the next 12 months.
The clinical education center will open in the space used by Children's Hospital at Brackenridge, once the new Dell Children’s Hospital of Central Texas opens at the old Mueller Airport redevelopment.
