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Cornerstone Medical Training Center seeks board guidance on LPN program; board requests accreditation and OHE authorization before approval
Summary
Cornerstone Medical Training Center previewed a proposal to launch an LPN program in Stratford. Board counsel and members told the center its application materials are incomplete without national accreditation and Office of Higher Education authorization; the board invited the center to return with updated documentation.
Cornerstone Medical Training Center representatives told the Connecticut Board of Examiners for Nursing on Aug. 20 that the school is considering a licensed practical nursing (LPN) program in Stratford and sought initial guidance on regulatory requirements.
Peggy (co-owner, Cornerstone) and consultant Jolene said the school currently offers CNA, patient-care technician, phlebotomy, medical assistant, billing and coding, and pharmacy technician courses with approvals from the Office of Higher Education and the Department of Public Health for those programs, but the center does not yet hold national accreditation from an accreditor the board’s regulations require for private career schools seeking to operate an LPN program.
Assistant Attorney General Alina Bricklin Goldstein and board members directed Cornerstone to the nursing regulations that govern which programs require board approval. Counsel explained the regulation (Conn. Agencies Regs. §20-90-46, types-of-programs) lists categories of programs — vocational/technical, private career schools, colleges/universities and hospital-based programs — and requires that private schools seeking to operate LPN programs have both Office of Higher Education authorization and accreditation by an appropriate national accrediting association.
Peggy said Cornerstone plans to work through those steps; the board’s legal advisor and staff explained the board could not vote to approve a new LPN program until the accrediting and OHE authorizations are in place. Board members advised Cornerstone to consult the board’s feasibility-study guidance on the Department of Public Health website and to return with a completed application and accreditation documentation for placement on a future agenda.
Ending: Cornerstone was invited to return to the board with proof of appropriate national accreditation and any updated feasibility materials; no vote was taken at the Aug. 20 meeting due to missing authorization and lack of quorum for final action.
