Catholic Healthcare West, UnitedHealthcare to Help Address State's Nursing Shortage with Donation to Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

$500,000 Earmarked for Construction of Nursing Building at College's Williams Campus

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) and UnitedHealthcare each will donate $250,000 to the Maricopa Community College Foundation to help pay for construction of a new Healthcare/General Education building at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC). The building, to be called Engel Hall, is scheduled to break ground this summer at the CGCC Williams Campus at the former Williams Air Force Base.

According to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics there will be more than one million vacant positions for registered nurses nationwide by 2010, yet currently more than one-third of nursing school applicants are routinely wait-listed each year by Arizona nursing programs. The state's nursing shortage has been exacerbated by Arizona's rapidly growing population.

"This gracious gift by Catholic Healthcare West and UnitedHealthcare will enable us to have enough classroom and lab space to significantly increase the size of our nursing program," said Dr. Maria Hesse, president of Chandler-Gilbert Community College. "Arizona's community college system is playing a leading role in educating new nurses, and it's wonderful to see the health care industry working with the education community to address this critical need."

Construction of Engel Hall and other Maricopa Community College facilities has been slowed due to inflation and rising construction costs. Despite efforts to cut building costs, Engel Hall needed additional funding to begin construction.

"UnitedHealthcare is committed to improving access to quality health care in Arizona, and ensuring we have qualified nurses and other health care professionals is a vital component to making the health care system better," said Benton Davis, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona. "We're proud to bring industry and education together to help fill Arizona's critical nursing gap, and we will continue to work throughout the community to foster new ways to meet these demands."

"CHW recognizes that a desperate need exists in our community to support the growth in health care education," said David G. Covert, President and CEO, CHW East Valley Service Area & Chandler Regional Hospital. "We are excited to be a part of these student's lives from their education which hopefully leads to a career with CHW."

The Maricopa Community Colleges host the largest National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) Associate Degree in Nursing program in the country, offering full-time, part-time, day, evening, weekend, hybrid and online curriculum. The Maricopa Community Colleges are the largest provider of health care workers in Arizona, providing more than 3,000 adults each year for health care industry jobs. Chandler-Gilbert Community College graduated its first class of 30 nurses this month.

Engel Hall is named for Connie Ricks Engel, a former Air Force obstetric nurse stationed at Williams Air Force Base. Engel was a pilot instructor at Williams and a member of the first class of female Air Force jet pilots. She also was the first female solo pilot of the Air Force's T-41 Mescalero and T-37 Tweet trainer jets.

About Chandler-Gilbert Community College

Serving more than 13,000 students annually, Chandler-Gilbert Community College is proud to offer high-quality, affordable programs in small class settings. From Nursing, Aviation, and Law Enforcement Training to Retail Management, Electric Utility Technology, and Dietetics and Nutrition, students have a wide variety of programs from which to earn credits for university transfer, launch their careers, train for new ones, or pursue a special interest. Chandler-Gilbert Community College is one of the ten Maricopa Community Colleges. For more information, access www.cgc.edu.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com) provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services. The company organizes access to quality, affordable health care services on behalf of more than 26 million individual consumers, contracting directly with more than 537,000 physicians and care professionals and more than 4,700 hospitals nationwide to offer them broad, convenient access to services nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.

About Catholic Healthcare West

Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) is the eighth largest hospital system in the nation and the largest not-for-profit hospital provider in the West. Founded in 1986, the CHW network of more than 8,500 physicians and approximately 50,000 employees serve a population spanning 22 million people at 43 hospitals across California, Arizona, and Nevada. CHW is committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality, affordable healthcare services with special attention to the poor and underserved. In 2006, CHW provided $803 million in charity care, community benefits, and unreimbursed patient care. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.chwhealth.org.