KENOSHA, Wis. – Carthage College, already well-known in the region for preparing highly qualified, compassionate healthcare professionals, is stepping forward to meet the rising demand for healthcare by opening a School of Health.
Carthage intends to make the new school a highly adaptive talent incubator that relies on real-time input from regional employers and practitioners. This organizational realignment brings thriving Carthage academic programs like nursing and neuroscience together with planned offerings in the biomedical sciences and other emerging fields.
“We see an extraordinary opportunity for the School of Health to directly impact tens of thousands of people in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois,” said Carthage president John Swallow. “Thanks to our central location and our strong relationships with industry partners, Carthage is ready to dive into the work of thoroughly preparing many more healthcare professionals, at all levels and in many different fields, who will serve their communities from day one.”
Expert leadership
Paul Martino, an accomplished biomedical scientist who has worked in both the pharmaceutical industry and academic settings, has been appointed as the inaugural dean for the School of Health. He trained at the Medical College of Wisconsin and spent a decade working with some of the world’s most outstanding National Institutes of Health-funded scientists.
Martino has been a faculty member and administrator at Carthage since 2009. He envisions the new school as a community connector, organizing a speaker series, hosting an annual healthcare symposium to highlight best practices, and forging new clinical and educational partnerships.
“The benefits of creating this School of Health stretch far beyond a new name,” Martino said. “This paves the way for Carthage to build a unified identity as one of the major players meeting the ever-expanding healthcare needs in the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor.”
The change will most visibly assist Carthage in recruitment, illuminating the breadth of opportunities available to students exploring health careers. Over half of the 11,000 applicants for fall 2025 admission expressed interest in one or more of the programs under this new umbrella.
“We’re seeing a growing number of students in the college search who are looking to make a tangible difference in people’s lives through health-related careers, and the School of Health equips Carthage to meet that demand,” said Ashley Hanson, vice president for enrollment. “All of our programs offer real-world experience and strong faculty support, helping students to turn their purpose into impact.”
Essential growth
Right now, Wisconsin colleges and universities produce about 3,500 new nurses per year — a fraction of the estimated 16,700 that will be needed annually by 2030 to keep pace with the state’s aging population. Carthage stands well-positioned to alleviate that shortage.
Nursing consistently ranks as Carthage’s most popular undergraduate major, and Carthage nursing graduates enjoy a remarkable 100% placement rate. To accommodate this continuing growth, Carthage has begun a phased renovation and expansion of its Nursing Education Center. Buoyed by $2.6 million in grant and donor funding, the project will more than quadruple the classroom and lab space by fall 2026.
The School of Health also encompasses undergraduate Carthage majors in allied health science, exercise and sport science, neuroscience, social work, sociology, and criminal justice, as well as a five-year track leading to a master’s degree in athletic training. As studies increasingly link this interprofessional model to improved patient outcomes, it has become the standard in modern healthcare.
“Carthage has an excellent reputation for cross-disciplinary collaboration, and our team-based approach to healthcare builds on this tradition,” said Nancy Reese, director of nursing and associate dean for the new school. “This sets the stage for the School of Health to become a regional leader in whole-person health education.”
Regional partnerships
Regardless of the major they select, hundreds of students sign up for the college’s robust pre-health advising tracks, which set the stage for success in graduate-level health programs. The School of Health enables Carthage to establish more specialized dual degree paths like the ones it offers with Rush University, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), and other partners.
Aside from patient care, the new school will boost opportunities for students interested in medical research. Carthage will showcase the work of its neuroscience faculty, whose federally funded research holds promise for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, eye cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions.
Maintaining close ties to regional providers allows Carthage to add or modify programs with minimal turnaround time. This responsive approach led to a certified nurse aide training program that launched in January 2024, providing a faster track to entry-level healthcare positions. The CNA program is on track to graduate 182 students in its first 18 months.
In advance of a grand opening celebration that’s being planned for spring 2026, Carthage will invite healthcare leaders to actively participate in shaping the School of Health’s priorities. There will be several opportunities to provide feedback, including one-on-one meetings, surveys, and public healthcare forums.
