Webster University Forms New Partnerships with SSM Health Care -- St. Louis and BJC

ST. LOUIS, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Webster University's Office of Corporate Partnerships has more company cohorts to add to its growing list. In the last few weeks, another MBA cohort and MSN cohort started at BJC HealthCare, and this fall, the hospital's employees will also start BSN and MHA classes with Webster. Next year SSM Health Care – St. Louis will join Webster in supplying advanced education to their workers through a joint venture to offer Webster MBA and MSN programs, starting in the Spring 2013 academic term.

"These great partnerships directly reflect Webster's mission of meeting the needs of our businesses and communities," said Julian Schuster, provost and senior vice president. "Our latest capacity building partnership with SSM Health Care will prove mutually beneficial and potentially serve as a model of entrepreneurial response for the higher education sector to the rapidly changing business and healthcare landscape."

SSM Health Care – St. Louis is a network of seven hospitals, a medical group and numerous outpatient services throughout the metropolitan area. Sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, SSM Health Care – St. Louis is the fourth-largest employer in the St. Louis area.

"More and more employers are recognizing the importance of life-long learning and how it helps not only their workers but also their workplace," said Benjamin Ola. Akande, chief of Webster's Office of Corporate Partnerships and dean of the University's George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology.  "Webster's cohorts are a proven success and the best way to make education accessible to a company's greatest asset – its employees."

Webster's long-term academic partnership with BJC HealthCare shows how the corporate model can be successful and change lives.

Go here to read more about the success of that partnership and the Webster MBA program.

With its home campus in St. Louis, Webster University (www.webster.edu) is the only Tier 1, private, non-profit U.S.-based university providing a network of international residential campuses. Founded in 1915, Webster University's campus network today includes metropolitan, military and corporate locations around the world, as well as traditional residential campuses in Asia, Europe and North America. The university is committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence.

SOURCE Webster University