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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:
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Health professions programs
– nursing, speech-language pathology assistant, orthopedic technology,
cardiovascular technology, respiratory therapy, and occupational therapy
assistant
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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.
Intergovernmental Relations, Economic
Development, and Public Information
8800 Grossmont College Drive El Cajon, CA
92020-1799 Phone 619-644-7573 Fax 619-644-7924; www.gcccd.edu |
