Dordt University has announced that it will add a new focus to healthcare management within its Business Administration (Buad) program.
Designed to meet the growing demand for professionals who understand both the business side and the healthcare industry, the program helps students acquire essential skills in the business world and receive health leadership training through Dordt's selection courses for nursing programs. This concentration prepares students to manage the day-to-day operations of the healthcare facility, both from a strategic and patient-centered perspective.
“In many cases, those who enter the business side of healthcare are not knowledgeable in both areas,” says Dr. Tim Klein, professor of business management and chairman of Dordt's business division. “With the growing demand for business professionals within the healthcare industry, this degree will help bridge the gap between business and healthcare expertise in this industry.”
Dordt is known for his strength in his nursing program. This new focus leverages that expertise to provide students with a balanced foundation for a career in healthcare management. Additionally, pre-health students will benefit from insights into the administrative and operational aspects of healthcare. “Dordt has a tradition of training healthcare professionals to treat patients both physically and mentally,” adds Klein. “This degree extends this view of a patient beyond the laboratory. Through this degree, patients experience the patient's first approach from hospital admission to discharge.”
As part of this new focus, Dordt business instructor Kandace Brands will teach healthcare management courses. After nearly 15 years at Avera in Sioux Falls, the brand pursued an MBA in healthcare, hoping to step into clinic leadership. Instead, God opens the door for her to return to Dort University, where she is currently teaching and mentoring students in the business sector.
The brand said, “There are key challenges in providing healthcare today, including workforce motivation, increased budget constraints, complexities in regulatory and governance, and challenging ethical decisions.”
“It's important to help Christians step up and address the current issues facing our country,” Brand adds.
The brand hopes that students will be resigning from both courses that are ready to enter the healthcare field and calling for them to serve their communities and individuals with excellence. “Healthcare is meeting people in the most vulnerable and basic needs of life,” she says. “There may be students who are passionate about healthcare but may not fit that clinical side,” explains Brand. “This concentration opens the door for business-oriented students to serve meaningfully in a healthcare setting.”
About Dordt University
As an institution of higher education committed to a reformed Christian perspective, Dort University is equipped with students, faculty, graduates and a wider community to work towards Christ-centric renewal in all aspects of modern life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is consistently recognized as a top university by the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly and Princeton Review.
