Former Anthem College reopens Monday as Pima Medical Institute

It’s back to class on Monday for 120 Veterinary Technology students in Phoenix.

They had been taking classes at Anthem College near 14th Street and Indian School Road.

“As of Aug. 29, Anthem College officially closed, leaving quite a few students without any options to continue their education,” said Fred Freedman, the President of the Pima Medical Institute.

Anthem had filed for bankruptcy. The Arizona State Board of Private Post-secondary education asked the Pima Medical Institute if it could keep teaching the students so they could graduate. Freedman said yes.

“Pima currently teaches a Veterinary Technician Program in eight metropolitan cities, including Mesa,” Freedman said. The U.S. Department of Education and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools all approved the plan.

It was decided that Pima would offer the classes on the old Anthem campus, so that the students would come back to the same 17,000-square-foot building that they had been attending.

“It was geographically more convenient for us to continue operation there, as we were the only other private veterinary technician program in the Phoenix Metro area,” said Freedman.

So Pima will reopen the campus and welcome the students back on Monday. It’s done some remodeling on the campus.

“What we’ve done is paint the interior, re-carpet, and replaced some of the carpet with tile, so that it has very much a state of the art feel,” Freedman said.

Freedman said that the school is planning a “few surprises” for students at the welcome back ceremony. He would not say what those were.

One thing that will not be new is the faculty. Pima retained all of Anthem’s teachers. They, too, will be back in the classroom on Monday.