Case Study
Galen College of Nursing
Galen College of Nursing operates 24 campuses across the United States plus online nursing programs, training tens of thousands of nurses across the country. eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications to build a custom WordPress theme using Gutenberg blocks and Advanced Custom Fields, without page builder plugins, with WCAG 2.2 level AA compliance built into construction and a highly performance-tuned implementation.
- Industry
- Healthcare
- Platform
- WordPress
- Services
- WordPress Development + Custom Gutenberg Theme + Accessibility
- Engagement
- Project-based
Client Snapshot
About Galen College of Nursing
- Founded
- 1993 (originating from Humana Health Institutes nursing programs initiated in 1989)
- Scale
- 24 campuses across the United States plus online programs; 47,000+ graduates
- Website
- galencollege.edu
Galen College of Nursing is one of the largest dedicated schools of nursing in the United States, with 24 physical campuses spanning Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, plus online post-licensure nursing programs.
The college's stated mission is to expand access to innovative nursing education, preparing competent, confident, and compassionate nurses who advance healthcare and strengthen communities. The institutional motto, "We change the life of one to care for the lives of many," carries the orientation that has shaped more than 47,000 graduates of the college.
Originally established under Humana Health Institutes in Louisville, Kentucky in response to a national nursing shortage and operated in Louisville, San Antonio, and Tampa Bay, the college became an independent institution in 1993 and has continued to expand its geographic reach to address the healthcare needs of communities across the country.
The Challenge
A WordPress theme that did not need a page builder.
Galen's website serves prospective nursing students, current students, faculty, and the broader healthcare community connected to the college's mission across more than 20 states. The site needs to support modular content authoring for the marketing team while staying fast, accessible, and maintainable over time.
In 2023, eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications. Stamats led the visual identity through XD designs and design guidelines. eWay's role was to translate the design into a working WordPress theme, with a specific requirement that Galen wanted the theme built without using page builder plugins.
Beyond the no-page-builder constraint, Galen wanted a highly optimized site, a feature-rich modular template system using custom Gutenberg blocks, full WCAG 2.2 level AA accessibility compliance, and a responsive theme that performs well across desktop, laptop, and mobile.
What had to be on the page
Custom WordPress theme built directly from the Stamats XD designs
No page builder plugin dependency
Custom Gutenberg blocks with Advanced Custom Fields for modular authoring
Highly performance-tuned implementation
Full WCAG 2.2 level AA accessibility
Google Search integration for site-wide search
Fully responsive across desktop, laptop, and mobile
The Solution
Custom WordPress theme using Gutenberg and ACF, built without page builder plugins.
eWay built Galen's WordPress theme directly against the Stamats XD designs using Gutenberg blocks and Advanced Custom Fields rather than relying on a page builder plugin. Custom blocks give the marketing team modular authoring with the design integrity intact, and the absence of a page builder keeps the site fast and easy to maintain as WordPress evolves.
Custom WordPress theme built from the approved Stamats XD designs and design guidelines
Modular custom Gutenberg blocks built with Advanced Custom Fields for editorial flexibility without a page builder plugin
Performance optimization across the theme to keep page-load times consistent at scale
WCAG 2.2 level AA accessibility built into every component rather than retrofitted at the end
Google Search integration providing site-wide search functionality without WordPress's native search overhead
Fully responsive design across desktop, laptop, and mobile
Theme delivered ready for the college's editorial team to manage without ongoing developer support for routine work
Architecture
A glimpse of the stack
Application
WordPress with custom theme
Block System
Custom Gutenberg blocks built with Advanced Custom Fields
Frontend
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery
Search & Accessibility
Google Search integration, WCAG 2.2 level AA built into construction
The Outcome
A fast, accessible, modular WordPress theme without page-builder overhead.
Modular authoring without a page builder
Custom Gutenberg blocks built with ACF give the marketing team a kit of modular components for assembling pages. Editors get the flexibility a page builder offers without the maintenance overhead and performance cost of a third-party builder plugin.
Performance-tuned by design
Building directly against WordPress's native block editor rather than layering a page builder plugin keeps the front end light and fast. Performance optimization across the theme keeps page-load times consistent across the college's distributed audience.
Accessible by construction
WCAG 2.2 level AA conformance is built into every component from the start. Visitors using assistive technology can access the college's information the way it was meant to be accessed.
Site-wide search through Google
Google Search integration provides search across the site without the overhead of WordPress's native search. Visitors find what they came for through a familiar, fast search experience.
Galen's website now runs on a custom WordPress theme that treats modular authoring as a first-class capability through custom Gutenberg blocks, with WCAG 2.2 level AA accessibility built into construction and a performance-tuned implementation that scales with the college's continued geographic expansion.
Common questions about this engagement
What buyers ask before engaging us on a project like Galen College of Nursing
Why no page builder plugin?
Page builder plugins like Beaver Builder or Elementor add complexity, overhead, and a long-term maintenance burden as both WordPress and the plugins evolve. Galen wanted modular authoring without that overhead. Custom Gutenberg blocks built directly with Advanced Custom Fields use WordPress's native block editor and produce a faster, lighter, more maintainable site over time. The marketing team gets the editorial flexibility they need without the trade-offs that come with adding a third-party builder.
How are the custom Gutenberg blocks structured?
Each block is built directly with Advanced Custom Fields and registered with WordPress's native block editor. The block library covers the layouts the marketing team needs for everyday work: hero sections, content layouts, calls to action, and others, all matching the Stamats design language. Editors choose blocks, fill in fields, and publish. The blocks render through the theme rather than depending on a separate builder runtime.
Why is WCAG 2.2 level AA important for a nursing-college website?
Public-facing higher-education websites are subject to ADA accessibility obligations. WCAG 2.2 level AA is the most current accessibility standard at the time of this build, and represents the conformance level commonly required for institutional websites. For a nursing college whose audience includes prospective students with a wide range of abilities, accessibility is both a compliance obligation and a mission alignment with the values of the nursing profession.
How did Stamats and eWay work together?
Stamats led the visual identity work for Galen, providing the brand language, the XD designs, and the design system. eWay was the technology partner: building the custom WordPress theme, the Gutenberg blocks, the accessibility implementation, the Google Search integration, and the performance optimization. The two organizations operated as a paired team where Stamats owned the design and eWay owned the technical implementation.
Related Case Studies
Other engagements you might want to see
Healthcare · WordPress · Accessibility
Custom Gutenberg WordPress Theme with WCAG 2.2 AA for a Nursing College
Research College of Nursing in Kansas City brings 115 years of excellence to nursing education across a 12-month accelerated BSN program, traditional BSN pathways, and a 78,000 sq ft facility with advanced simulation labs. eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications to build a custom WordPress theme using Bootstrap 5 and Advanced Custom Fields Pro, with 24 reusable Gutenberg blocks, WCAG 2.2 level AA compliance built into construction, and CRM-integrated iframe forms.
Higher Education · Cascade · Accessibility
Cascade Template Build with Pixel-Perfect Design and WCAG 2.2 AA
eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications to build the front-end template for Normandale Community College's Cascade CMS website. The deliverable: a pixel-perfect, fully ADA-compliant, WCAG 2.2 level AA conformant Bootstrap template that Cascade would use as the foundation for the rebuilt site.
Healthcare · Cascade · Accessibility
Magazine-Style Cascade Template for an Academic Medical Center
eWay Corp partnered with Stamats Communications to build a single-page Cascade CMS template for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences website. The deliverable: a magazine-style template with section-by-section animations, full WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance, and a Cascade-ready implementation that the health system's editorial team could use as the foundation for the rebuilt site.
Have a similar environment? Let's talk.
Let's scope a managed engagement for your platform.
Every engagement starts with a platform assessment. We review your current environment, document operational gaps, and recommend a managed operations model sized to your organization.