On July 19, STLCC celebrated the groundbreaking of the Center for Nursing and Health Sciences at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, 3400 Pershall Road, in Ferguson.
Classes and labs for an inaugural Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care will be centered in the facility and will allow STLCC to expand its dental hygiene, nursing and radiology technology programs.
Elizabeth Gassel Perkins, Ed.D., campus president and chief academic officer of STLCC-Florissant Valley, called the future facility “magnificent.”
“It will stretch approximately 100,000 square feet and is similar in design and scope to the health sciences facility at STLCC-Forest Park,” she said.
With an estimated cost of about $62 million, CNHS construction would not have been possible without the support of St. Louis area voters who approved STLCC improvements through the passage of Proposition R in 2021.
“In May, we held the groundbreaking for Wildwood’s Center for Health Sciences and Technology, and following today’s groundbreaking, the College will move forward with four additional buildings and substantial renovations at our other campuses,” said Dr. Jeff L. Pittman STLCC chancellor.
“Together, these projects are part of STLCC Transformed, which is a nearly half-billion-dollar initiative that aims to modernize facilities and programming to meet the job training and retraining demands of Missouri.”
The four-story center, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2024, will be the tallest structure on campus. It will include a “simulation-based learning environment to ensure STLCC students hit the ground running as they enter the workforce,” according to STLCC. Its design will prioritize natural light, technology integration and flexibility.
The structure will create room to expand dental hygiene, medical assisting, nursing, paramedic technology, patient care technician, radiologic technology, and respiratory care programs. It will also house the campuses’ existing behavioral health support, deaf communications studies, and emergency medical technology programs.
“The programming that will be housed here will not only support the training of much-needed registered nurses and health science professionals, but it will also bring affordable, low-cost dental services to the north St. Louis County community as well as a new licensed practical nursing certificate program to open tentatively in 2025,” said Jordan Cooper, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, division dean of nursing.
“I’m looking forward to the return on investment the center represents to the College and community. It will afford our students a learning environment that accurately simulates today’s high-tech health care field.”