This award provides funding to Barton College to support its new School of Health Sciences (SHS) complex. Through a two-phase approach, Barton will expand the SHS to 70,000 square feet. The new SHS complex is expected to be a transformative facility designed to use advanced hospital simulation and multi-discipline integration to graduate top-performing healthcare students and practitioners to focus on rural healthcare. Phase 1 will be the renovation of the Nixon Nursing Building and Moye Science Building at an estimated cost of $21 million. A simulation hospital will be the centerpiece of Phase 1 along with renovating existing laboratory and classroom space. This will allow for the expansion of Barton’s nursing and exercise science programs, increasing graduates from 49 to 83 annually. Phase 1 of the new SHS complex will allow for further expansion of nursing programs (BSN, MSN, and Nurse Practitioner) beyond what has been accomplished with prior Golden LEAF funding. Golden LEAF funds will be used for training equipment and general classroom/lab equipment for the nursing, exercise science, and biology programs.
