PIQUA, Ohio -- Officials at Edison Community College in Piqua broke ground Tuesday on a campus expansion project that will benefit the residents and communities of Miami, Shelby and Darke counties.

The college broke ground on two new educational centers. One facility is the Health Sciences Center and the other is a Library/Learning Center. The two new facilities, which community leaders identified as their most urgent needs, will combine to span 34,000-square feet.

Edison President Dr. Kenneth A. Yowell, said, "Today, at least two-thirds of registered nurses in our area hospitals are Edison graduates. Still, a big shortage of nurses will continue."

Yowell added that, through the Campaign for Edison, the college and the communities it serves in the upper Miami Valley, and the region's hospitals are partnering to match the need for many more nurses and other health care professionals. The Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy, Wilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney and Wayne Hospital in Greenville have all made investments to the campaign.

The shortfall of registered nurses is expected to top 30 percent by 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Sources at the the region's Nursing Institute on the campus of Wright State University report that the shortage is already more serious in this part of Ohio than in most other areas of the country.

Edison's Health Sciences Center and 17,000-square feet of renovated space on the main campus will enable Edison to boost the enrollment in the Associate Degree Nursing Program and offer new course of study in:

Respiratory Therapy

Physical Therapy Assisting

Medical Laboratory Technology

Occupational Therapy Assisting

A new Library/Learning Center, serving all Edison students and all regional citizens, will provide appropriate resources for recreational and academic pursuits, including learning and research collaboration, study rooms, archives and electronic media.

For more information on the Edison Foundation, Click Here.