Open Arms Free Clinic on Dec. 6 awarded Gateway Technical College with its Partner Award for the college’s work to expand health care programs on its Elkhorn Campus.

Open Arms began its partnership award in 2023 to honor those organizations that are coming alongside it as it works to address the health care and wellness needs of the uninsured, low income and underserved residents of Walworth County. Its goal is for its patients and their families to have the same primary care and attention with respect and dignity all would want for our families.

In its award wording, Open Arms said: “Open Arms believes in training the healthcare workers of the future with the core value of compassion.  Modeling care with an authentic human approach, we believe our service learning opportunities will benefit our community – both the provider and the patient. Tonight, we celebrate the leadership of Gateway Technical College for recognizing Open Arms as a valuable partner.”

Gateway Technical College President and CEO Ritu Raju says she’s proud and honored to receive this award from the Walworth County partner organization.

“Gateway's priority is to serve our students and our communities, and this award shows our commitment to serving the health care needs of Walworth County,” said Raju.

“We’ve expanded our health careers-related programming at our Elkhorn Campus and look forward to the impact students who graduate from those programs will have for residents in the area in the future. We also look forward to working with Open Arms where we can to help them in their worthwhile mission to make sure everyone has access to health care.”

Open Arms Executive Director Sara Nichols said Gateway’s expansion of health care programs in Elkhorn is a two-fold win – for the community as well as Gateway.

“The efforts that Gateway is doing on its Elkhorn Campus are exciting to us,” said Nichols. “Gateway trains many professionals in the health care industry, who will then take care of us in the Walworth County community.

“Gateway provides the curriculum and practical training for its students and, as they partner with us, they’ve also worked with compassion to serve the health and wellness needs of residents to result in a healthier community. We are proud to honor them this year.”
Micheal Randolph, Gateway School of Health dean, offered similar sentiments on the announcement of the award.

“It's with great honor that Gateway Technical College accepts this award from Open Arms,” said Randolph. “When deciding to bring additional healthcare programs (Nursing and Practical Nursing) to the Elkhorn Campus, we considered not only our students, but our clinical partners in the area.  

“Open Arms is one of those clinical partners. They've been a great partner for a number of years, always looking for ways for us to collaborate. They are consistently open to accepting our students and we appreciate our continued partnership.”