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by Sarah Parker

Across the U.S., the healthcare industry is suffering from severe staffing shortages driven by an aging population, longer lifespans and increasing employee burnout—an issue that has only worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here in Southeast Texas, the need for healthcare workers is critical, but ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ University stands ready to meet the increased demand and help fill the hundreds of vacancies hospitals and healthcare institutions are facing across the region.

In January 2026, the University launched the College of Nursing and Health Professions, an initiative that combined several existing health-related programs into a new college, forming a powerful, collaborative community dedicated to advancing health and human potential in Southeast Texas and beyond.

“Healthcare providers are always needed; it is a burden all across the United States,” Joseph Tacy, dean of the college, said. “There is a shortage that just doesn’t seem to go away and has been here for many decades. The College of Nursing and Health Professions brings [ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ’s health-related programs] all together under one umbrella to meet the needs of Southeast Texas.”

ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Brett Welch said, “Because of the need in Southeast Texas, it made sense to enhance the JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing. As we started talking about it and looking at some of the programs that we should include, it lent itself to becoming its own college. Now, we have another college that will add programs to our inventory that make sense for this region.”

The college currently includes the JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing; the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences; the Department of Health and Kinesiology; the Department of Nutrition, Hospitality and Human Services; the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences; and the Department of Social Work.

“A lot of our disciplines require our education to be interdisciplinary,” Tacy said. “We all work together. Nurses work with speech language pathology. They work with social workers. They work with nutrition and registered dieticians. When we were separated out into the different colleges, it was hard for us. We still did it, but it’s going to be so much easier now that we’re all together. There’s a lot of excitement in all the departments in the college.”

The process to establish the new college took two years of passionate work and thoughtful planning.

“We were fortunate enough to receive a little bit of funding from the state in order to make this happen,” Tacy said. “Once that [funding] was approved, that triggered the ability to then start planning quickly. It helped that we already had a lot of departments established. I was able to quickly solidify the needed experience and the individuals to bring together the college team.”

“We have fantastic leadership with [Dean] Joe Tacy,” Welch said. “Our faculty and staff in the Dishman School of Nursing were great already, so we hit the ground running. They really understand the needs in Southeast Texas.”

According to its mission statement, the College of Nursing and Health Professions is committed to preparing future leaders through excellence in education, research, innovation and engagement and is dedicated to fostering student success, advancing health outcomes and improving the quality of life for the individuals and communities it serves.

“We’re here to create leaders, provide compassionate care to Southeast Texas and meet healthcare needs as Texas grows in population,” Tacy said. “Health professions have a high need. Most of our health professional students always get a job placement. Nursing is always a 100 percent job placement due to the shortage. As our college grows in Southeast Texas, I think it’s going to help the community thrive and succeed.”

Plans to grow the college over the next two to five years are already in place with new, high demand academic programs in development. Future additions will include a Department of Nurse Anesthesia, a Department of Occupational Therapy and a Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program.

“With the new programs, we will appeal to [prospective students] in other areas, so we can grow our recruitment efforts,” Welch said. “ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ has also been designated a Research 2 Institution, which shows that our faculty are doing a lot with research, and that connects to this college. I think that designation makes sense with [the new programs] because those faculty are going to be doing a lot of research within the healthcare profession.”

Tacy said many of the new programs were selected in response to requests from local hospital partners at Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas, Christus Hospitals and the Medical Center of Southeast Texas, as well as other healthcare agencies in the community.

“We learn what they need, and we are responsive to provide that as the healthcare career stream for their future employees,” Tacy said. “We train our individuals locally and hope they stay here to thrive. A significant portion of graduates do stay here.”

The college aims to strengthen the University’s partnerships with local hospitals and community agencies in Jefferson and Hardin Counties and provide more opportunities for clinical training, internships and hands-on experience for students.

“We’re very fortunate here because our graduates get really good jobs,” Welch said. “Our programs are easier access, higher earnings. We are always trying to generate programs that help Southeast Texas and help the need here.”

In addition to the new programs, the College of Nursing and Health Professions will expand the Dishman School of Nursing by enhancing the existing Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program and adding a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) to meet the crucial need for a doctoral nursing degree program in Southeast Texas.

Three DNP program track options will be offered: Nurse Executive Leadership, Nurse Educator and Nurse Anesthetists, which prepares registered nurses to become Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). Tacy said the college aims to begin accepting students into the nurse leadership and nurse educator programs in 2027 and nurse anesthetists in 2028, upon regulatory approval.

“The college is really positioned well to succeed,” Tacy said. “It’s been needed for a while. The students all seem to be thrilled, as well as the faculty. A lot has happened in a short amount of time. It’s been a positive start. When we had Cardinal View [LU’s open house], a lot of visitors said they feel like they’re home. It feels like family. That general sense really helps to propel the University forward.”