Wednesday, October 31,2012. The Daily News Clippings

Miami Dade College

Wednesday, October 31,2012

The Daily News Clippings

Miami Dade College Office of Media Relations

300 N.E. Second Ave., Suite 1350

Miami, Fl. 33132

Tel. 305-237-3366 - Fax. 305-237-3228

www.mdc.edu

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WEDNESOAY , OCTOBER 51, 2012

MIAMI DADE COLLEGE

Leon family gives MDC nllfsing school $5M In recognition of t he gift, the nursing school at MOC's Civic Center-area Medical . Campus will be renamed the Benjamin Leon School of Nursing at Miami Dade College. . BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ

mrvasquez@Mia miHerald.com

In the past 50 years, more tha.n' . 19,000 nurses have earned their degrees from Miami Dade Col­ lege, making MDC the largest. lo­ cal provider of nursing educatlon. Still, a severe nursing shortage persists in South Florida and · around the nation. Thanks to a $5 lnillion donation to MDC's nurs­ ingschool announced Tuesday, . MDC administrators are confi­ dent they'll be part of the solution .. for the next half-century as well. . The source of the donation: Le- . on Medical Centers, a Miami-. . based chain of health clinics that cater to seniors. Company foundet . Benjamin Leon Jr. said he has em­ ployed plenty of 1'IDC-educated nurses over the years, and he has come away impressed. . . "We know firsthand that they pn:>duce top-notch nurses," Leon said, adding that the company has a philosophical commitment to "medical excellence." .

Leon's firm also has a close rela­ tionship with MDC. with Leon's son serving on the college's board of trustees. MOC President Eduardo Padron said t he family's gift is a boost to the college, but also to the community, as the public will bene· fit from nurses being trained with the latest equipment and instructed by the best professors. .The nursing program, which in·· eludes more than 1,500 students, "is a big sacrifice for the college," Padron said , "It's a very'expensive program," he said, pointing to the lO-t0-1 stu­ dent-faculty ratio and the constant need to update to the newest train­ ing equipment. With the Leon do- .. nation, MDC plans to slightly ex- . · pand the number of mrrsing stu-· .dents it enrolls, but it will also use the money to add newequipment, create scholarships and "attract the 'b est faculty to the program," Padron said In recognition of the gift, the nursing school - located at MDC's Civic Center-area Medical Campus - will be renamed the Benjamin Leon School of Nursing . · at Miami Dade College. The dona­ tion coincides with the 50th anni­ versary of the school of nursing, . which opened in 1962. This is not the first sizable Leon family gift to a local college. The family in 2008 announced a $10 million gift to Florida Internation­ al University's medical school ­ money used to establish a center for geriatric research and educa­ .tion. The gift was one of the largest ever by a Cuban-American family . . to a U.S. university. The Leon family fled Cuba m 1%1, and their first South Florida clinic catered to recently trans­ planted Cubans who were having troubled accessing medical care, in: part because of language barri~ ers. Decades later, Leon Medical Centers was launched, and the family -owned company still pI;ides itself on offering Spanish­ speaking doctors and staff. "We have been able to pursue our ­ dreams in this community," Leon . · said. The scholarships provided by the MDC donation, he added; will "help people to achieve their dreams that otherwise couldn't "" .

MOC School of Nursing gets $5M I News - Home

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MDC School of Nursing gets $SM Published On: Oct 30 2012 01:26:58 PM EDT Updated On: Oct 30 2012 01:55:50 PM EDT

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