Val Greaves, RN, MSA, MSN, is so passionate about health care that she has dedicated
her lifework to it as both a registered nurse and a teacher of the profession. She
now cherishes her new role as Washtenaw Community College Dean of Health Sciences
to play her part in helping to “shape the future of health care.”
Greaves, who started at WCC as a part-time faculty member in 1989, is clear on the direction she plans to take the newly formed division. “I want WCC to be more visible in the community and grow the relationships we have with our stakeholders and local health care systems.”
She has already started to work toward this with the offering of “WCC Wellness & Health Promotion Clinics.” WCC nursing and allied health students staff the clinics, which are offered to the community for free. It’s a move toward more departmental collaboration— a rapid-growing trend in the health care industry.
WCC students taught value of collaboration
“Health care systems are pushing to be more collaborative, so we need to indoctrinate this into our students early in their educational process,” Greaves said. “If we expect our students to function as collaborative professionals in the workforce then we need to start at the college level by encouraging this practice. Having a Dean of Health Sciences that oversees all of our health programs will facilitate moving this initiative forward.”
“I love the atmosphere at WCC,” she said. “We have great faculty that loves teaching and working with our students. I’m very excited to work with all of them in my new role as dean.”