Last August’s grand opening of the new Katie Paul Allied Health and Nursing Building at Beaufort County Community College brought Allied Health alumni back to the college campus to witness the changes in health care.
It was also the college’s first public event presided over by new President Barbara Tansey, and it gave those attending the chance to meet BCCC’s new leader.
The new building brings advanced training to Allied Health students at the college, and, ultimately, better health care to people in eastern North Carolina, said Tansey.
The grand opening kicked off with an open house and luncheon to give BCCC Allied Health alumni the chance to tour the new building and learn about the future of health-related education programs at the college.
The celebration culminated with a ribbon-cutting event held during a Business After Hours sponsored by the BCCC Foundation, the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce and Vidant Beaufort Hospital.
Thanks to the new 30,600-square-foot building, all of the college’s health-sciences programs, including the associate degree and practical nursing, medical-laboratory technology and certified nurse aide I and II programs, are now housed under one roof.
Previously, the Allied Health programs were housed in 17,199 square feet of space in three buildings.
With the opening of the new building, BCCC will gradually increase the number of nursing students. BCCC anticipates an expansion of 20 students in the associate-degree nursing program and 10 in the practical-nursing program within the first three to five years.
Like the building that previously housed the college’s nursing programs, the new building is named for Katie Paul, a pioneer of nurse education in Beaufort County. She was the first director of nursing programs at BCCC.
The new building includes three nursing laboratories, one nurse-aide laboratory, one medical-science laboratory, a 100-seat lecture hall, five classrooms, one computer laboratory and about 20 faculty offices.
Construction costs of some $6.8 million were paid through grants and loans taken by the county and the college. BCCC recently received a grant of nearly $1 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation to update equipment used by Allied Health faculty and students.
The Katie Paul Allied Health and Nursing Building is located on the east end of the BCCC campus, 5337 U.S. Highway 264 East, Washington, NC 27889.

 

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