Officials of the schools say that the Ontario campus is designed to meet the needs of an area where population growth and an explosion of new medical office space are creating a need for additional skilled medical professionals. Says David Pyle, president and CEO of American Career College and West Coast University, "We are responding to Southern California hospital and healthcare center officials who are telling us they are in the midst of a dramatic shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly in the area of nursing."

The Ontario campus will be the largest of five campuses operated by American Career College and West Coast University, which already have campuses in Los Angeles, Orange County and Norco. Specialized programs offered in the first phase of the new ACC Ontario campus will include medical assisting, pharmacy technician, diagnostic medical sonography, optical dispensing, massage therapy and medical billing.

Future phases of the Ontario campus will offer an Associate Degree in Nursing program through West Coast University, making it one of the first postsecondary schools in the Inland Empire to offer an LVN-to-RN bridge program, Pyle notes. The LVN-to-RN bridge program is planned for the second phase of the new campus.