Career Institute to Dedicate New Site

Concord Career Institute, a medical and dental training school that had occupied the same Lankershim Boulevard spot for more than 40 years, will dedicate its new location on Victory Boulevard on Thursday.

Following the 11 a.m. ceremony, students, faculty and health officials will conduct tours of Concord’s new home, a former insurance building next to the Hollywood Freeway that cost about $1 million to convert.

“We completely upgraded,” campus director Tom Azim said.

“It’s a state-of-the-art building. Colleges are different than other kinds of buildings. There’s the flow of students. There’s faculty coming and going. Everything was taken into consideration by the designers.”

The school began in 1955 as Valley College of Medical and Dental Careers.

Many years later, it was bought by Concord Career Colleges, a 42-year-old health-training company based in Kansas City. Among its 12 nationwide campuses are locations in Anaheim, San Bernardino and San Diego.

The new building, outfitted with the latest medical and computer equipment, has about 35,000 square feet of space, compared with 23,000 at the Lankershim address.

Although the full-time enrollment now stands at 500, Azim said company officials anticipate it will grow to nearly 800 in the next few years.

Students earn diplomas in such areas as vocational nursing, respiratory therapy, surgical technology and medical secretarial. Most diploma recipients are placed in hospital or clinic jobs, Azim said.