Special to the Daily News

 

The Division of Continuing Education at Beaufort County Community College will offer a course beginning Monday that will prepare students to work as coordinators of health-care facilities.

The class will meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and some Saturdays through June 29. The cost of the course is $189.25, including a registration fee of $175, malpractice insurance fee of $13 and student insurance fee of $1.25.

The required textbook, “Health Unit Coordinating,” is available from the BCCC bookstore for an estimated cost of $79.

Classes will be held in Room 827 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus with required clinical rotations to be held at Vidant Beaufort Hospital in Washington.

A health-unit coordinator is an entry-level health professional that helps maintain and support a health-care facility. Duties include setting up charts for hospital admittance, performing data entry, ordering lab tests and x-rays, transcribing physician orders and communicating them to nursing staff and other hospital departments, using computerized order entry systems, setting up and maintaining patient records, managing facility communications and keeping the unit in compliance with facility policy and confidentiality regulations.

The large number of expected retirements and tougher immigration rules are reducing the number of qualified professionals currently in this field. In some states, it is projected that employment in health-care services will grow 18 percent by 2017, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

The average salary for health-unit coordinators range from $10.92 an hour in some rural areas to $20.82 in larger metropolitan areas, according to Workforce Explorer.

Prerequisites for the course include a high school diploma or GED, proof of several vaccinations including a flu shot and a hepatitis B vaccination, a tuberculosis skin test within the past 12 months, a recent pre-employment drug screen with negative results, among other requirements.

Students will be required to submit to a criminal background check and wear uniforms during clinical rotations along with a BCCC photo identification badge.

Interested persons must register in Room 802 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus.

For more information, contact Lou Stout, director of occupational extension, at 252-940-6307.

Information about this or other classes offered by the Division of Continuing Education is available at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned.