FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)- A Long awaited nursing program at Taylor University is becoming a reality for students from the help of Parkview Health.

On Wednesday, a release explained that Taylor University and Parkview Health they are expanding the University’s healthcare professions, the two institutions are addressing the need for more nurses in Indiana.

This will be the first nursing program in school history. Parkview will provide clinical site access for future Taylor nursing students at 19 locations, according to the release.

Parkview Health is making their investments to the program by providing classroom space, equipment, funding the Dean of Nursing and Clinical Nursing instructors.

Holly Whitby, Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing at Taylor University explains how important this will be for student-athletes.

“One of the things that is going to be super beneficial for our students is that Parkview is going to allow our students to do their clinicals in the summer, that’s really important for students that are athletes and there are a lot of athletes that want to pursue nursing,” Whitby said.

At the latest, Taylor University plans to have the program fully underway by fall of 2024. Currently, they are in the stages of hiring a Dean for their nursing school.