The Lakeland Community College Respiratory Therapy Program is among only 23 programs in the nation that have been recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) to receive the President’s Award for Credentialing Success. This is the highest achievable award given by the commission and is presented as part of CoARC's continued efforts to value the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential as a standard of professional achievement. According to CoARC, the success of Lakeland's Respiratory Therapy program is measured by inspiring its graduates to achieve their highest educational and professional goals.

“This award reflects the hard work and dedication of our students and graduates, we couldn't be more proud of them!” said Catherine Kenny, Ph.D., RRT, program director and professor for respiratory therapy at Lakeland. “No one achieves this type of award without a team effort. For that, David Goswick, our director of clinical education, and I would like to thank our clinical partners. Our students spend time in some of the best hospital facilities in the country and work under the guidance of registered respiratory therapists who are committed to student success as evidenced in excellent patient care. This award reflects student experiences at those sites, and the education that students receive throughout their tenure at Lakeland. We are so thankful for our extended team and our graduates.”

Dr. Kenny has been at Lakeland since 1983 serving as director of clinical education and then program director since 1992. Prior to Lakeland she served in roles including research, diagnostics and clinical education.

She earned her doctorate degree at Kent State University and both master's and bachelor's degrees in education from Cleveland State University. She earned her graduate certificate from the University of Chicago in respiratory therapy.

CoARC accredits degree-granting programs in respiratory care throughout the country that have undergone a rigorous process of voluntary peer review and have met or exceeded the minimum accreditation standards as set by the professional association. The CoARC board used objective criteria based on key accreditation metrics to select programs for the recognition. Among these were maintaining an RRT credentialing success of 100% among Lakeland's respiratory therapy graduates for the past three years.

Lakeland's Respiratory Therapy program is currently accepting new students.

Fall semester begins Aug. 27. For more information, contact counseling@lakelandcc.edu.

By: Adam Continenza, Mktg and Communications Spclst