Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville has received a $250,000 gift from Washington Regional Medical Center to benefit the college’s Center for Health Professions, the school announced Thursday.
The Nursing Simulation Lab on the first floor of the new center will bear the hospital’s name.
The lab space will feature high-tech simulators to help the community college’s students learn to care for patients using more than 100 scenarios, according to a news release. The college offers an associate’s degree in nursing; the program currently has 160 students enrolled.
“The simulation experiences will better prepare students to provide patient care in the clinical environment,” said Mary Ross, dean of Health Professions. “In addition, the collaboration among the students from the disciplines of nursing, respiratory therapy, and EMT/Paramedic will mirror the working environment and ensure that our graduates enter the region’s health care workforce able to deliver the best in quality care.”
Construction of the 83,000-square-foot facility began in July 2011 and is expected to be completed this fall, with classes starting in the new center in the spring. All of the college’s health-related disciplines will be housed in the facility.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 09/28/2012