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Dates

September 12, 2008

Grossmont College marks construction start of new health/physical sciences complex  follow-up . .

September 9, 2008

Grossmont College marks construction start of new health/physical sciences complex. . .

August 25, 2008

Grossmont College students enjoy revamped Exercise Science facility. . .

August 18, 2008

Extreme makeover of Grossmont College Exercise Science Complex. . .

July 31, 2008

Ford ASSET students revved up for promising careers. . .

July 25, 2008

Vacancy on GCCCD's Citizens Bond Oversight Committee. . .

June 26, 2008

Dr. Cristina Chiriboga appointed Cuyamaca College interim president. . .

June 18, 2008

Grossmont College breaks ground on multistory parking structure. . .

June 13, 2008

Grossmont to break ground June 18 on parking structure. . .

June 5, 2008

Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges hail Class of 2008. . .

June 4, 2008

Cuyamaca College President Geraldine Perri accepts top post at Citrus College. . .

June 2, 2008

College district lauded for the third time by taxpayer group. . .

May 21, 2008

Osher Foundation endowment to benefit Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges. . .

May 14, 2008

S&P, Moody’s bond ratings good news for East County college district. . .

April 28, 2008

New vice chancellor of business services no stranger to budget difficulties . . .

April 4, 2008

Colleges' accreditations renewed in face of toughr standards. . .

March 20, 2008

GCCCD Chancellor Omero Suarez to retire. . .

March 3, 2008

College district continues to sail through multiple audits. . .

February 4, 2008

Opening grand for Cuyamaca College Communication Arts Center. . .

January 18, 2008

Cuyamaca College grand opening set for Communication Arts Center. . .

January 14, 2008

East County community college students, leaders join "Yes on Prop. 92" rally. . .

December 14, 2007

Bill Garrett to lead District Governing Board in 2008. . .

December 7, 2007

Cuyamaca College marks Disability Awareness 2007. . .

December 3, 2007

East County chamber lauds GCCCD vice chancellor . . .

November 15, 2007

Governing board backs California Community College Initiative . . .

November 14, 2007

Cuyamaca Fest today at new student center . . .

November 5, 2007

Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges pitch in during wildfires ...

October 26, 2007

Grossmont, Cuyamaca colleges to reopen Monday ...

October 15, 2007

Cuyamaca College fetes opening of student center...

October 8, 2007

Grossmont starts remodeling exercise science complex...

September 24, 2007

Board OKs final budget. Includes funds for added staffing, classes...

September 24, 2007

2007-'08 Adoption Budget at a glance ...

September 17, 2007

Enrollment up sharply for fall 2007 at Grossmont, Cuyamaca...

August 13, 2007

Students revved up over parking improvement at Grossmont ...

July 17, 2007

Six new members join GCCCD bond oversight committee ...

July 5, 2007

New Grossmont College president has passion for helping students...

May 31, 2007

Dr. Sunita V. Cooke new Grossmont College president...

May 29, 2007

Metti is youngest Grossmont College grad in 2007...

News Archive Index

GCCCD logo

News Release

 

CONTACT: Della Elliott, GCCCD Public Information,
(619) 644-7690, della.elliott@gcccd.edu

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               Sept. 12, 2008

 

At a Glance

Grossmont College marks construction start of new health/physical sciences complex

‘Rocket’ launch lends a boost to groundbreaking celebration 

EL CAJON – –  The Grossmont College physics department capped Friday’s groundbreaking for a $35 million health/physical sciences complex with a soda-bottle rocket launch, a fitting end to an event highlighting what a boost the new, high-tech facility will be for both the college and the region.

 Chancellor Omero Suarez said the new complex will feature the latest teaching tools and equipment to provide realistic, hands-on learning in the labs and classrooms of the health and physical sciences programs. The facility’s modern infrastructure will be capable of handling technology-laden equipment, transforming the new home for the health professions programs into an eye-popping array of simulation rooms and training areas designed to mimic real-world environments.

“We will be able to expand the number of students in these critically needed programs, “ Suarez told the audience of about 200. “All this is going to come together to train and provide more health workers and I am very happy about that. Our current facilities very much limit the number of nurses and other health professionals the college is able to produce.”

High-tech simulation labs with lifelike mannequins programmed to respond as patients to the prodding of nursing students. A casting room for the orthopedic technology program. A mock apartment for students in the occupational therapy assistant program.   A blood-spatter room for forensic technology students to analyze blood drops. A laser photography room for bullet trajectory analysis.  A rooftop deck for astronomy students and star-gazers.  Simulated ICU patient stations with ventilators to train respiratory therapy students.

These are among the multiple learning labs planned for the health/physical sciences complex, the latest Grossmont College project made possible by the 2002 passage of the $207 million facilities bond measure -- Proposition R -- and state bond funds. It is expected to be completed by summer 2009.

The 52,000-square-foot, two-story facility will house science laboratories, classrooms and offices for the following:

  • Health professions programs – nursing, speech-language pathology assistant, orthopedic technology, cardiovascular technology, respiratory therapy, and occupational therapy assistant

  • Forensic technology, a program in the administration of justice department

  • Physics, astronomy and physical science

Governing Board President Bill Garrett said the new facility is “extraordinarily important” to provide the level of training required to work in today’s hospitals and clinics.

“I was talking to a healthcare professional recently, who was telling me that the state-of-the-art simulation mannequins are absolutely fantastic, not only because they react so realistically, but they give students the opportunity to try things they might not do if it were a real person on a gurney,” he said, adding that students are able to expand on what they learn and are better trained when they leave Grossmont College to join the workforce.

Dr. Sunita Cooke, college president, said the new building will help the college maintain its excellence in producing top-notch nurses and allied health professionals.

“This building is a dramatic illustration of our efforts in the area of workforce development,” she said. “Our goal is to prepare our students with superior skills and hands-on experience so they will hit the ground running. Our goal is to offer an innovative curriculum that is responsive and tailored to the needs of the workplace so our students continue to be in high demand in the labor market.”

A mock apartment in the new facility will teach students in the occupational therapy assistant program about home modification and the kind of adaptive tools available to help people with physical limitations improve their ability to perform daily activities.

“This is so important to the success of future students,” said OTA student Letitia Bascome. “As with any area of health care, lab practicums are essential...the labs will make it easier to have exposure to (realistic) settings before actually going out into the healthcare field. Students are so excited about the new building. We know that this will provide more opportunity, state-of-the-art equipment and basic fundamental training that we need for a prosperous career.”

Nursing instructor Sharon Sullivan said the additional lecture and lab space the new facility will offer is greatly needed to accommodate rapidly increasing enrollments in the health professions programs.

“Since 2000, several of our programs have nearly doubled in enrollment,” she said. “The demand is so strong that most of the health professions have sizable waiting lists, as long as four years. Accommodating twice as many students in the same space has meant that we’ve been teaching classes in some creative places: the computer training room across campus; the Grossmont Healthcare District Auditorium in La Mesa; the Mission Trails Park Visitor Center…So this building will mean that we can keep our students and classes close.”

The complex will also include a health sciences computer lab and large lecture hall to accommodate high-demand classes, as well as guest speakers and health seminars. The addition of a rooftop astronomy observation deck with elevator access and permanent telescope mounts is another of the facility’s features designed with community involvement in mind.

The astronomy and physical sciences department, which designed the rooftop platform, intends to offer a community-oriented astronomy class and what it calls “star parties.” A portable planetarium is designed to benefit astronomy students and to spark public interest in the cosmos, said Jerry Buckley, dean of mathematics, natural sciences, exercise science and wellness.

Ross Cohen, chair of the physics, astronomy and physical science department, said in addition to the rooftop astronomy deck, the new facility will provide two general labs, a computer lab and a holography lab as dedicated space for the department, a big improvement over the single lab and tiny holography lab currently in place.

 “Our holography lab will receive more spacious accommodations,” said physics instructor Brian Carter, who closed Friday’s celebration by shooting off nearly a dozen 2-liter soda bottles high up in the air using a PVC-pipe contraption to launch the pressurized plastic containers.

 A second mock apartment in the new facility is where forensic technology students will learn how to process crime scenes.

“The mock apartment will give students a realistic setting,” said Mary Najjar, a recent graduate of the program, who is currently an intern in the Chula Vista Police Department crime lab. “The blood-spatter room is going to be a new feature that will allow for the hands-on blood stain pattern analysis with easy and sterile cleanup…the new building is going to be a great commodity…not only for the students, but the faculty, as well.”

Designed by Architects Mosher Drew Watson Ferguson, the complex will consist of two wings connected by an open courtyard with an atrium, a trickling stream and a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass with an unobstructed view of the bucolic hills and open preserve that abut the campus.

The complex is one of several Prop. R projects on Grossmont College’s “to do” list. A $24.5 million, three-story parking structure currently under construction is expected to be completed in summer 2009. The GCCCD Governing Board recently approved design plans for the $36 million student services complex. The project will renovate and expand the student center, as well as the facility housing student services and administrative offices.  

Karen Lanning, chair of the Prop. R Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, noted during her remarks to the audience Friday that the campus has changed greatly since she was a student some 25 years ago. Under Prop. R, nine new buildings and renovations have been completed in the last four years at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges.

“The voters of East County made a very wise choice entrusting this district with local property tax funds for these facilities,” she said. “Audits are done very year that show clean opinions and the projects are completed under a program that is timely, appropriate and effective.”

With the health and physical sciences complex now under way, next on the busy Prop. R agenda is a Sept. 25 ceremony at Cuyamaca College to officially kick off construction of a $25 million business/computer and information science building. Another major Prop. R project is the expansion and remodel of Cuyamaca College’s library, expected to begin next summer.

Grossmont College is located at 8800 Grossmont College Drive. Cuyamaca College is at 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway in Rancho San Diego. For more information about the colleges and Proposition R projects, go to www.gcccd.edu.

 

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