Johnson County Community College (JCCC) revealed it will break ground on a new healthcare education building at its main Overland Park campus during the 2026‑2027 academic year. The project is part of the college’s 10‑year Facilities Master Plan, approved by the Board of Trustees in 2025, and is intended to accommodate soaring demand for nursing and other health‑care careers in the region.
According to Hoodline, JCCC cited a 2024 statistic showing that 52% of applicants to its Registered Nursing program were not admitted, a bottleneck the college attributes to limited classroom space and faculty capacity. To address the shortfall, the college will add a second RN application cycle beginning in Spring 2027, giving prospective students both fall and spring entry points instead of a single annual intake.
The new building will be managed by McCown Gordon Construction as construction manager at risk, with Smith Group serving as the collaborative design partner and programming lead. While the college has not disclosed the building’s size or cost, it emphasized that the facility will expand the existing Healthcare Simulation Center, which already includes four full‑size acute‑care rooms and a surgical suite for student training.
Statewide workforce projections underscore the urgency. The Johnson County Post, cited by Hoodline, reported Kansas will need to fill more than 3,000 registered‑nurse positions by 2030. A 2025 University of Kansas Medical Center report added that nearly 40% of current registered nurses plan to leave the field within five years, intensifying the talent gap.
JCCC is not the only institution responding to the shortage. In April, Research College of Nursing and HCA Midwest Health celebrated a ribbon‑cutting for a $36.5 million, 78,000‑square‑foot academic and clinical advancement center at Research Medical Center in Kansas City. Meanwhile, Chamberlain University opened its 24th campus in Overland Park in early 2026, with classes beginning Jan. 5 at 6130 Sprint Parkway, Suite 300, adding another local option for nursing education.
Local residents and prospective students stand to benefit from the expanded capacity, which promises more hands‑on training opportunities and a stronger pipeline of qualified nurses to serve Overland Park’s hospitals and clinics.
What’s next: JCCC expects to break ground on the new building sometime during the 2026‑2027 academic year. The college will release further details on the project’s cost, exact location on campus, and construction timeline as they become available.
Sources: hoodline.com
