News

November 20, 2007
College Receives $1 Million Toward New Health Center

Edgecombe Community College has received a $1 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation toward its new Community Health Education Center on the Rocky Mount campus.

The grant is the first major funding received toward the $8 million project.

The four-story center will house six of the college’s ten allied health programs as well as a primary care clinic, a mental health and rehab unit, a simulated hospital, and possibly a dental clinic, contingent upon available resources.

A unique feature of the center will be its simulated hospital environment for teaching and learning. The facility will be available to community colleges and four-year colleges and universities in eastern North Carolina as well as other health-related agencies, such as mental health agencies, health departments, and medical providers.

“Catawba Valley Community College is developing a simulated hospital environment for western Carolina, and we would like for this facility to be the simulated hospital environment for eastern Carolina,” explains ECC President Dr. Deborah Lamm.

“The hospital would be equipped with patient simulators, for example, a SimMan and a SimBaby. Both are interactive mannequins that allow students to perform advanced life support skills,” she adds.

The center also will provide an accessible, central location for at-risk county residents to receive health information, screenings, and limited treatments.

Dr. Lamm has been working since January 2007 to garner interest in the project from neighboring medical providers, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities and to ensure that these services and educational opportunities are provided to students.

“We’ve had strong support from area educational institutions and health care agencies,” she says.

The entire project calls for a four-story parking deck with a pedestrian bridge that enters into the simulated hospital on the third floor. The total project will cost an estimated $12 million, which includes construction of the center for $8 million and a parking deck and pedestrian bridge for $4 million.

Plans are under way to complete the facility design by fall 2008. Groundbreaking for the project is estimated to be three years out.

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