Ensuring the success of students and making a lasting impact on the future of chiropractic are the driving forces behind several positive developments being carried out at both the Kansas City and Los Angeles campuses of Cleveland Chiropractic College (CCC). Highlighting these developments are the relocation of the Kansas City campus, facilities improvements in Los Angeles, as well as a number of multidisciplinary affiliation agreements with prominent medical establishments in both cities.
In February, Dr. Carl S. Cleveland III, the college’s third president and grandson of the founder, announced that CCCKC would move its educational programs to two structures on thirty-four acres at 108th and Lowell Avenue in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS. The structures total 176,000 square feet that will be used for classrooms, laboratories, a library, cafeteria, offices and other facilities, including planned fitness and day-care centers.
“Part of this $29-million acquisition and expansion plan includes a $10-million retrofit to construct a state-of-the-science chiropractic health center and educational facility,” Cleveland said. “With the expansive acreage, this site will accommodate the college’s needs through the next fifty years. Prior to the acquisition, the college explored numerous Kansas City area sites with local economic development agencies to help identify an accessible, large and expandable location. More space is required to educate the men and women who will meet the growing national demand for chiropractic care.”
Remodeling at the new campus began April 1, and the college plans to relocate its instructional program by spring 2008. The college continues to seek proposals to establish tenant relationships for a fitness center and a day-care center in one of the buildings.
On the Los Angeles campus, providing expanded amenities and a more nurturing educational environment for students was the impetus for a multi-stage facilities improvement plan approved by the college’s board of directors in late 2004. Exterior work began in mid-2005 and included the building being painted, the installation of new awnings and landscaping and other improvements to the grounds. Later stages included interior renovations of the Media Resource Center, cafeteria and rotunda area. This consisted of new paint, carpet, vertical blinds, computer stations, furniture and other enhancements, all of which give the building a whole new look and a more retro feel.
Offering innovative educational opportunities outside of the college’s curriculum is also part of Cleveland’s commitment to its chiropractic students and the profession as a whole. During the past three years, in an effort to integrate chiropractic care in multidisciplinary settings, officials at both campuses have worked tirelessly to negotiate agreements and promote ongoing relationships within the mainstream medical community.
In Kansas City, the college operates a chiropractic wellness center through an affiliation agreement with one of the metropolitan area’s premiere hospitals, Truman Medical Center-Lakewood, in suburban Lee’s Summit, Missouri. CCCKC’s presence includes several faculty members and a group of student interns selected each trimester. A similar program that also includes faculty and students is being facilitated at Kansas City Veteran’s Administration Hospital. A Cleveland contingent also provides chiropractic care at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic.
Los Angeles’ prestigious Venice Family Clinic, the largest free health clinic in the United States, is the site of CCCLA’s newest multidisciplinary venture. Last spring, the college joined forces with the clinic’s new Simms/Man Chronic Pain Center, where chiropractic care is offered in concert with acupuncture services, osteopathic manipulation and traditional Chinese medicine to provide various forms of pain relief for needy patients. The partnership allows regular chiropractic treatment to be provided free-of-charge by as many as eighteen supervised student interns from CCCLA. Another affiliation agreement is in place between CCCLA and the University of Southern California (USC). Clinicians and student interns from CCCLA are on rotation at USC’s University Park Health Center, which provides health care services to students enrolled at that campus. Finally, CCCLA has a presence at the Los Angeles Mission, where chiropractic care has been added as part of the multidisciplinary services offered to the city’s homeless population.
Providing state-of-the-art educational facilities, as well as unprecedented, innovative opportunities to provide hands-on care in a variety of multidisciplinary settings, are two primary examples of Cleveland’s ongoing commitment to training tomorrow’s top doctors of chiropractic. And, it further solidifies the college’s status as a pioneering leader for the profession.
Visit www.cleveland.edu or call 816-501-0113.