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BRCC, county schools win Golden Leaf grants

Blue Ridge Community College won a grant for $1 million to equip a simulation lab at the Health Sciences Center at Pardee Hospital and Henderson County schools received $200,000 to expand a current pilot initiative that aligns the school courses with expected growth in health care and advanced manufacturing, the Golden LEAF Foundation announced.

In Henderson County, the $200,000 will be used for professional development and other training to expand the current pilot initiative in high schools to middle schools. The initiative aims to align the teaching and learning with expected growth in health care and advanced manufacturing in Henderson County.

BRCC will use its grant of $1,087,500 to provide equipment and networking/technology at the new $46.5 Health Sciences Center under construction next to Pardee Hospital. The Golden LEAF grant will equip healthcare training facilities at the new Health Sciences Center with surgical and mannequin-based simulations, providing realistic hospital and healthcare experiences through a high-fidelity simulation lab. The Health Sciences Center is a partnership between BRCC, Wingate University, Pardee Hospital, the City of Hendersonville and Henderson County.

BRCC is relocating its Associate Degree Nursing, Surgical Technology degree and diploma, Nurse Aide I and II certification, Medical Assisting and Phlebotomy certification programs to the Health Sciences Center.

“Blue Ridge Community College is excited to provide the community and the region with highly trained, highly skilled healthcare workers through this new facility,” said BRCC President Molly A. Parkhill. “The Golden LEAF grant will enable us to establish state-of-the art simulation labs for health care training. It is truly an investment in our future and in future generations of students in our area.”

"We are pleased to welcome the high-fidelity patient simulation lab to the new Health Sciences Center on the Pardee Hospital campus," said James M. Kirby II, president and CEO of Pardee Hospital. "This lab will give allied health students the hands-on, real-life experience they need to be successful in their chosen career fields. We look forward to seeing excellent learning opportunities and real-world applications for our community's students once this lab is complete."

The Health Sciences Center is scheduled to open in August.