Michigan’s largest community college, Oakland County Community College (OCC), is expanding its campus footprint in Southfield to accommodate the tremendous growth of its health and science programs. The college is adding nearly 70,000 square feet of space to the 92,322 square foot campus at 22322 Rutland Drive, just south of Nine Mile Road.

OCC ExpansionThe $25.3 million OCC renovation and expansion includes new biology, anatomy and physiology labs; a state-of-the-art surgical technology program lecture lab that replicates an operating room; enhanced space for the respiratory therapy program; new classrooms and enlarged nursing labs. As many as 2,000 additional students will be able to attend OCC when the expansion is complete in 2011. The campus was originally designed to serve a maximum of 2,500 students. However, OCC has experienced a 114 percent increase in enrollment over the past decade.

The Southfield project is the largest construction undertaking in OCC’s 45-year history. “This important expansion enables OCC to train more of the personnel that will be looking after the health of Oakland County residents in the decades to come,” said OCC Chancellor Tim Meyer.

Funding for the renovation and expansion of OCC comes from an annual .8 mill property tax levy approved in 2001 by Oakland County voters. The money is earmarked for building restorations, technology upgrades, scholarships and development of new academic programs.

A four-acre plot of land in downtown Southfield is the site of the new, 10,000 square-foot Northland Park Dialysis Center. Constructed from the ground up, the center is a joint project of Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai-Grace Hospital, and Southfield-based physicians group Nephron Associates. The $4 million, state-of-the-art facility is managed by Greenfield Health Systems, a division of Henry Ford Health System.

Dialysis Center RenderingThe dialysis center is expected to initially employ a staff of 35-40 physicians, nurses, clinical technicians, dietitians, social workers and clerks when it opens this month. It contains 30 hemodialysis stations and four home dialysis training suites. The facility has the capacity to treat more than 200 patients.

“One of the things we’ve been watching is trying to put facilities where people live, and where we have a growing incidence of end stage renal disease,” said Greenfield Health Systems Vice President David Shepherd. “They’re stable communities that we’re talking about, as far as residential communities, where the population is aging. And we already know what the health shifts in our communities are with diabetes, hypertension, obesity and other health risks. The demand for this type of service has been growing… This will be our second one (facility) in Southfield and we think that we are going to be in the right place to take care of a good segment of that community.”

Northland Park Dialysis Center was constructed with patients in mind. There is convenient parking with easy access to the building, and patients can watch flat screen televisions and sit in comfortable heated chairs. The facility is outfitted with the latest high-tech equipment and offers affordable daily home dialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Greenfield Health Systems says it will reach out to the community by offering programs at the facility that focus on patient education, risk assessment and prevention.

The dialysis center sits on the former site of Stouffer’s Northland Inn. It is located at 21000 Northwestern Highway at Northland Park Drive, across from Northland Shopping Center.

Southfield’s Providence Hospital has announced plans for a $5 million expansion and renovation of its emergency department. The project includes a 4,055 square-foot addition to the emergency department that will house new treatment spaces and more private rooms. Construction is expected to begin early this year. Providence Hospital is Southfield’s largest employer and is located in the Cornerstone District of the city.

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Oakland County Community College (OCC) has launched a Weekend College to accommodate students who need a more flexible class schedule and to reduce the time it takes to complete a degree or certificate program. The college’s Southfield and Royal Oak campuses began offering all-day Saturday classes in the winter 2010 semester.

OCC Southfield CampusSince the majority of OCC students attend part-time, it can take as long as seven years to obtain a degree. Now, the Weekend College enables students to enroll in a combination of online, Friday evening and Saturday classes to earn associate degrees and certificates in as little as two years. Saturday class hours were also extended to 5:00 p.m. during the summer semester at OCC’s Southfield campus.

In addition to shortening the time to earn a degree, OCC’s Weekend College addresses the needs of dislocated workers and residents who are unable to enroll in classes held during the weekdays. It also increases access to degree and certificate programs. According to OCC, the college-eligible population living within a ten-mile radius of the Southfield and Royal Oak campuses will grow to more than 125,000 people over the next few years.

The Weekend College program makes it possible for students to earn associate degrees in Liberal Arts, General Studies, Business Administration, and Management Development. Microsoft certifications are offered, along with certificates in Business Information Systems and Computer Information Systems. For more information, contact OCC’s Southfield campus at (248) 233-2750.