Emporia State President Ken Hash, administrators, stakeholders, and state representatives spoke about current and future nursing student wellness centers during a ceremony last Wednesday marking the groundbreaking at the site where the Nursing Student Wellness Center will be built. expressed the new building’s dedication to ESU students.
The new Nursing + Student Wellness Center building comes after establishing the need to move nursing students on campus and breaking away from the original plan to renovate Central Morse Hall. Currently, nursing students are taking classes off campus in Cora Miller Hall next to Newman Regional Health.
“When we started analyzing the university about two-and-a-half years ago, the first thing we wanted to do was call it the university of our community…and that mantra is what we are here today. It was about students, students, and students,” ESU President Ken Hash said in his remarks. “That’s what we refocused and set our vision for, and that’s what we’re here for today. … We dedicate this new facility to Emporia State University’s current and future students.”
The 32,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, expected to be completed by fall 2025, will also house students, with a mock hospital, high-tech labs, other learning spaces, two student lounges, and meeting rooms. Accessibility and support services. ESU Foundation President Shane Sibley said the center’s purpose is to “provide the highest quality health care to our community, state, and region” and to support ESU students by “considering the well-being of all humanity.” He said that. It also aims to provide students with the education and resources they need in this field.
“Emporia State University is now beginning construction on a new building that will greatly improve the skills and instruction for future nurses,” said Kansas Congressman Mark Shriver. “This will be a huge asset to the state and the region.”
Although ESU initially received a $15 million bond from the state of Kansas, the cost of the Nursing + Student Wellness Center building was covered entirely by fundraising from donors. Therefore, students do not have to bear the burden of repaying the borrowed money.
“There are costs associated with that, especially when you build a new building, and they are passed on to students in tuition fees. So by repaying this, every student will receive $460 a year, which is double the years they are here. , which will save students tuition fees,” Hash said.
In his remarks, ESU President Brent Thomas encouraged area residents to think of the building as an investment rather than “from a price point of view.”
“This is an important investment in our community, an important investment in our region, an important investment in our academic programs and our university, but most importantly, this is an important investment in our “It’s a continued demonstration of the investments we’re making in our businesses,” he said. He said.
