Citizens School of Nursing to hold open house at its new home in the Pittsburgh Mills mall
Allegheny Health Network’s Citizens School of Nursing will soon open at the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer.
A ribbon cutting will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, followed by an open house from noon to 5 p.m.
The event will be open to anyone who wants to check out the school as well as prospective students. Teachers and administrators will be available to answer questions.
“I think anyone who’s kind of thinking about a nursing career would find it informative,” said Stephanie Waite, spokeswoman for AHN.
Waite said classes would start shortly after the open house, but didn’t have an exact date.
AHN announced last May that the nursing school would move to the former ITT Tech location in the mall. It will occupy about 21,000 square feet.
AHN officials have previously said the location will allow the program to grow while providing a safe, central location for students to attend classes.
“Everybody’s excited about moving in,” Waite said. “It’s a great space for education — it’s so convenient.”
Since 2004, the school has been housed in the former Citizens General Hospital in New Kensington along with other AHN clinical services.
The school offers a two-year, hospital-based program that prepares students to take the national licensing exam for registered nurses. The school enrolls an average of 150 to 175 students, graduating 60 to 80 yearly, and employs 27 faculty and support staff.
The school was the first new tenant after the Pittsburgh Mills mall was bought last May 1 for about $12 million by Long Island-based Mason Asset Management.
Frazer officials have previously said they hope the addition of the school might provide a boost to the restaurants and retail stores at the mall. Pittsburgh Mills has been struggling to maintain a retail base that attracts customers since it opened about 13 years ago.
AHN officials said in August they had about 200 nursing students signed up to take classes.
Emily Balser is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Emily at 724-226-4680, emilybalser@tribweb.com or via Twitter @emilybalser.
