Spirituality! Excellence! Nurture! Stewardship!
These four words, keys to our mission statement describe the vision of Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences -- a vision with a heritage dating back nearly a century.
The Florida Hospital School of Nursing operated on the Hospital campus from 1913 until 1958 when Southern Adventist University (SAU) (then Southern Missionary College) began sending nursing students from its Tennessee campus to Orlando for clinical experiences at the Hospital. In 1983, SAU opened an Orlando Center on the Hospital Campus, offering an Associate degree in Nursing. The Hospital had (in 1964) already founded a School of Practical Nursing, and hospital-based programs had opened in Radiography in 1962 and in Sonography in 1988. The groundwork for a College was laid.
In 1992, a new institution, Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences (FHCHS), was formed, merging SAU's Associate degree Nursing program with three hospital-based programs: a certificate program in Practical Nursing and Associate degree programs in Radiography and Sonography. In 1998, FHCHS became a Baccalaureate-degree-level institution, granting a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing.
Since then, the College has added Associate degree programs in Nuclear Medicine, Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Pre-Professional Studies. Six new Baccalaureate programs have also been added: distance-learning degrees in Radiologic Sciences, Diagnostic Medical Sonography and Nursing and on-campus degrees in Health Sciences, Biomedical Sciences and Nuclear Medicine. In 2008, the College began its first graduate program, offering a Master's degree in Nurse Anesthesia. The second, a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy will begin in the fall of 2011.
Florida Hospital College – offering Associate degrees, Baccalaureate degrees and Master's degrees and building on 98 years of health education experience -- continues to grow as an institution with a history of quality and a passion for excellence!
