A $250,000 gift from Washington Regional Medical Center will help fund learning labs for health profession students at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. The gift was announced Thursday.
The 83,000-square-foot Center for Health Professions is set to open in November with classes starting in January. It cost $12.2 million to construct.
Bill Bradley, chief executive officer of Washington Regional Medical Center, said the hospital has been a part of the college’s nursing program since 2006.
“I don’t think of it as a donation, but an investment for the hospital,” Bradley said. “If you turn on the TV or read the newspaper it is easy to read what is wrong with health care, but there are a lot of things that are right. The people are one of those things. Our experience with NWACC students is extremely positive. They are what is good about health care.”
Nursing labs in the new building will be named “Washington Regional Medical Center Nursing Simulation Lab”, college officials said.