New building for Health Sciences

April 7, 2005
By Keith Claussen
Online Editor

In the last four years, the St. Ambrose community has seen the completion of three new facilities to meet the growing needs of a growing student population. The partnership with Genesis announced towards the beginning of the school year will yield the construction of the Health Sciences Education Building.

President Rogalski and Leo Bressanelli, CEO of Genesis Health System, held a press conference last Thursday to reveal more details about the new facility.

“St. Ambrose has been trying to meet the needs of our greater Quad City area region now for the past 125 years,” Rogalski said.

Construction will start in the spring of 2007. Ambrose hopes to move the nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy programs there by the fall of 2008.

The capitol campaign target for the cost is $12.4 million, with the Bechtel trust already pledging over $1 million. The new facility will be similar in size, in comparison to the new dorm and Rogalski Center; the Health Sciences building will have 50,000 finished square feet of space.

With the return of the nursing program in 2000, the university has been hard pressed to provide office and classroom space, ultimately capping enrollment to about 180 students. Occupational and physical therapy programs are near capacity too.

An aging nursing population is another contributing factor to the decision to move forward with the project. The average age of a registered nurse currently employed is around the mid 40’s, while professors in the classroom average in the mid 50’s.

In terms of choosing Genesis as their partner, the land donated to the school is located at the corner of Lombard and Marquette streets, less than 10 blocks west of the SAU campus. Over half of the physical therapy staff at Genesis are graduates of St. Ambrose.

The university will move the three current programs after construction is completed, but the new facility will be capable of offering additional services.

“There is potential for expansion,” Rogalski said. “We will be able to add on to that facility for accommodations."

President Rogalski stated that any number of programs could be added in the future, including a doctorate program in pharmaceuticals.

“Quality healthcare is no accident,” stated Bressanelli. “If we don’t step forward as a healthcare organization, who will?”

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