SWGTC to hold Groundbreaking Ceremony for new Health Sciences Building

Architect’s rendering of what the new Health Sciences building at SWGTC

will look like when completed.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for Southwest Georgia Technical College’s (SWGTC) new Health Science building will be held October 6th. The new building will be erected on the site of the former Toyota dealership on US Highway 19 between existing SWGTC buildings A and D.

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on the site with local and state dignitaries on hand for the event. The public is invited to attend.

Plans for the building began when SWGTC was awarded $12.7 million in funding to construct the 52,585 square foot facility. The new building’s exterior design will be similar to the classroom building completed in 2005.  Target date for completion is fall of 2011.

The new building will accommodate students enrolling in Associate Degree Nursing, Practical Nursing, Patient Care Assisting, Certified Nurse Assistant, Biomedical Electronics, Land, Forest, and Wildlife Management, and Veterinary Technology and those taking courses in Natural Sciences such as anatomy and physiology, biology, microbiology, physics, and chemistry. The building will also include lab space, a Virtual Hospital area, and tiered lecture hall with seating for more than 200 students.

The Virtual Hospital space will be state-of-the-art and will expand and enhance the hands-on training opportunities for SWGTC students. It will house 10 patient rooms populated with Human Patient Simulators. “These simulators will allow students to tend to patients prior to performing their hands-on clinical work at local health care facilities,” said Dr. Glenn Deibert, President of SWGTC.

“The simulators are equipped with basic human functions such as breathing, drinking, blinking, sweating, and have the capability to show improvement in patient conditions or indicate if a procedure was properly performed by the student. They are a fantastic training tool for our Allied Health students,” Dr. Deibert said.

 “We are excited about expanding our lab and classroom space for Allied Health programs with this new building,” said Dr. Deibert. “These are some of our most popular programs. A full 50% of our students are enrolled in Allied Health program and the demand for graduates from health care programs is increasing. This new building will allow us to better serve a growing number of students seeking careers in these fields. The addition of this building exemplifies the growth of the College and our commitment to provide the best educational services and facilities to our area.”

More information may be obtained by calling 225-4096.