The new $1.65 million Health Sciences building, designed by Dick & Fritsche Design Group. will be located east of the Life Sciences Building on the Union Hills campus. The building was designed specifically for interprofessional collaboration, education and training of students in the nursing, EMT and paramedic programs. Connecting faculty and students of these disciplines will prepare them to work closely as healthcare professionals in the real world.
“When the college envisioned the Health Sciences building, we were drawn to the notion of increasing student success, learning and degree completion,” said PVCC President Dr. Paul Dale. “The architectural design had specific learning outcomes: Increase student time on task in the simulation and practice labs; expand the student’s ability to get prompt feedback and debriefing on their work in the labs through digital video recordings; and enhance the student faculty relationship by creating space where the frequency of interaction is increased.”
The initial estimate of $1.2 million for the building was based on three 4,000 sf MCCCD buildings that were designed and constructed similar to our L Building. During the planning phase of the Health Sciences project, the decision was made to increase the building size to 4,500 sf and design it to be comparable in construction with the Life Sciences and Q Buildings. In essence, we are building a 40-50 year building instead of a 20-year building, which also will reduce our annual maintenance cost and upkeep.
The approximately 4,500-square-foot building, scheduled to open in Fall 2012, includes a skills practice lab, an exam room, two simulation suites, a control center, a debriefing room, offices and an outside staging/training area.
The groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the new building was held Wednesday, December 7th, 2011.

HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING ASSOCIATES
Dick & Fritsche Design Group (DFDG) - architects
Caliente Construction Inc. - general contractor
Dibble Engineering - civil engineers
AON fire protection engineering
Energy Systems Design, Inc.
KPFF Consulting Engineers - structural
Logan Simpson Design Inc. - Landscape
Digital Media Design - AV/IT consulting
WorkSpaces - furniture consultant

On June 28, 2011, the Governing Board provided Conceptual Approval for the New Nursing Lab – Health Sciences Building at the Paradise Valley Community College with a Total Project Budget of $1,240,000.  Twenty percent will be from the 2004 Bond Occupational Educational funding.  The Capital Development Advisory Council (CDAC) reviewed this item at its June 28, 2011 meeting and recommended that it be submitted for Governing Board action. 

Since 2004, Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) has partnered with John C. Lincoln Health Network (JCLHN) to respond to the increased need for nursing professionals in our community.  At this time, economic demands and market changes have required JCLHN to end its partnership with PVCC.  The partnership provided essential resources that enabled the creation of a nursing program by providing classroom, skills lab, and simulation space at Cowden Center; building operations; and funding for faculty.  Beginning January 2012, PVCC will assume full responsibility to sustain Maricopa Nursing at its campus located at 32nd Street and Union Hills.

PVCC currently has a basic skills lab that is shared among the nursing, EMT, and paramedic programs.  The lab space can only accommodate the first two semesters of the nursing program. In order to remain in compliance with the National League for Nursing Accreditation requirements, PVCC must provide additional lab space at minimum equal to the lab/simulation space lost from the partnership which had serviced the third and fourth semesters of the nursing program.

The new nursing lab building will include the required facilities to meet the program needs. Within the new building will be space for a Skills Practice Lab and Exam Room, two simulation suites, a control center, a debriefing room, restrooms, and building support. Total size of new building is proposed at 4,000gsf.

Technology and Security contributions for this project are currently estimated at $110,000 and $15,000 respectively, and will be implemented at a future date and contained within the existing $1,240,000 budget.