Garth Hutton, R.N., M.S.N., has been named Corporate Director of Nursing for Dade Medical College (DMC) and will be responsible for the operation of all of the institution’s diverse and growing nursing programs on six campuses. He replaces Sharon Rodriguez, who will also assume a new position, as Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Southernmost Florida, a Dade Medical College learning affiliate.Hutton is a former Emergency Department nurse who worked in a number of South Florida hospitals before deciding to focus on nursing education. He is excited by the opportunity to help fulfill DMC’s mission and promote careers in nursing, a profession that he finds challenging and rewarding.
“I believe that we need to be responsive to the needs of the community, to determine what the healthcare facilities are seeking in human resources. They need well-prepared people who can meet their needs as they serve their patients and the community. I want to move DMC to a place where we are sending out the very best graduates to work in those facilities,” says Hutton.
DMC has experienced significant growth in the past few years. Founded in 1999, DMC’s main campus and corporate offices are located in Miami. Other campuses are located in Miami Lakes, Homestead, Hollywood and West Palm Beach. The newest addition to the DMC family is the Jacksonville campus.
DMC’s programs of study include Associate of Science degrees in diagnostic cardiac sonography; diagnostic ultrasound; general radiologic technology; massage therapy; medical assisting; medical billing and coding; and nursing. The nursing program includes the Associate’s degree program as well as an LPN program and a program for RNs who wish to pursue a Bachelor’s degree. A new paramedic-to-RN program and a physician-to-RN program are planned, as well as an RN to BSN program that is fully online.
Hutton worked while raising a large family to gain essential experience and educational credentials to expand his options as a nurse. He has advanced rapidly and is eager to share his enthusiasm for nursing and other healthcare careers with anyone who is considering the field. He came late to nursing, following a career in the corporate world, and had an unusual introduction to becoming a nurse. In 1980, shortly after he graduated from high school, Hutton walked into a bookstore and saw a title that attracted his attention. “The book was called, So You Want to be a Nurse? and I bought it,” he recalls. “But I put it away somewhere and never bothered to read it. I was drawn to helping people and had considered medical school, but it was too expensive. I never thought about nursing until I saw that book, and it sparked something in me. But I ended up majoring in industrial engineering.”
After college, Hutton, a native of Jamaica, married Odette, his childhood sweetheart. They had five children and she worked as a teacher while he became an operations manager and industrial engineering supervisor for UPS. It was a good position, but Hutton still felt a magnetic pull towards healthcare and remembered that book he purchased 15 years ago. “Amazingly, I still had it. I finally read it and at the end, I knew that my answer to the question was a definite yes, I did want to be a nurse.”
There were few male nurses in Toronto in 1998, and Hutton decided to move to the U. S. where he thought attitudes might be more accepting. His wife took the plunge, too, going to nursing school first. “My wife became a medical-surgical nurse and her experience made it easier for me. I attended nursing school at Miami Dade College and got my BSN from Nova Southeastern University. I eventually specialized in the Emergency Department and loved it. We often had students there and I enjoyed serving as a preceptor for them.” Eventually, Hutton moved to California, where he obtained his graduate degree from Dominican University while teaching part-time. He served as the director for two campuses of Unitek College for four years, but came back to Florida, where he loves to live and work.
“I love DMC because the school’s philosophy resonates with me,” he says. “I believe in helping students realize their dreams, and the philosophy here is that we will do whatever is necessary to help students. Regardless of their age or where they are in their lives or careers, we want to help by providing the resources they need. We emphasize the benefits of education, not the cost.
“Nursing is a great profession. The possibilities are limitless! My daughter is in nursing school; my wife and I both encouraged her. We tell her to select an area within nursing and specialize, and continue her education all the way to the highest level. If I had a chance to do it over, I would go straight into nursing. It’s the most satisfying profession. I often think of how it felt when I was an emergency nurse and a patient was brought in, basically lifeless. A week later, you see that patient walking out of the hospital, saying ‘Thank you for saving my life.’ There is no paycheck better than that.”
