abarrus County Hospital opened a three-year diploma school of nursing to help meet the demand for registered nurses for both the military and civilian populations during World War II. Sixteen students entered the program on February 2, 1942 and were taught by a small teaching staff, including physicians. The National League for Nursing accredited the School of Nursing in 1963. In 1966, due to increasing enrollment, additional classrooms, library facilities, faculty and staff were necessary. The three-year curriculum was decreased to thirty-three months.

In February 1973, upon recommendation of the Cabarrus Memorial Hospital board of trustees, the North Carolina Board of Nursing approved the first two-year hospital based diploma program in North Carolina. The curriculum changes were a result of extensive review of the school’s curriculum and current educational trends. In June 1974, the School of Nursing was notified that the NLN accreditation would be continued. The first class was admitted to the two-year program in the fall of 1974, graduated in June 1976 and had a 100% pass rate on the licensure examination.

The Cabarrus Memorial Hospital’s board of directors was granted the authority to award the associate degree by the North Carolina General Assembly. In June 1989, the first associate degrees were awarded.

During 1992, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. To mark this historic occasion and to honor its founder, the school of nursing was officially renamed the Louise Harkey School of Nursing.

In January 1995, the school received its initial accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate degree. In January 1996, the Harkey School of Nursing became the cornerstone division of the newly named Cabarrus College of Health Sciences. In June 1998, the Commission on Colleges recognized the allied health division addition with continued accreditation for the College.

The North Carolina General Assembly granted the College the authority to award baccalaureate degrees in 1998 and regional accreditation at this higher level was reaffirmed in December 2000. The College now offers two baccalaureate completion programs so we can achieve an even higher level of Excellence in Health Sciences Education.

With the growing needs of the health care industry and subsequently the physical space needs of the College, we have teamed with NorthEast Medical Center, and the NEMC Foundation, to fund and build a new college facility on the NorthEast Medical Center campus that opened in January 2004.