smcnursingconstruct

$9.6M SMC Nursing Expansion On Target for November Completion

smcnursingconstruct

That $9.6-million nursing center expansion project at Southwestern Michigan College is still on track for a November 1st completion date according to the latest update from project managers, architects, contractors and school officials.

It was in August of last year that the SMC Board awarded a $7-million contact for the project to Rockford Construction Company of Grand Rapids with a November 1st target for completion. With furnishings and equipment slated for installation during the month of December, the center is designed to be ready for students in January of 2019 for the college’s spring semester.

Dr. Heidi Grabemeyer-Layman, who is an OB/GYN with South Shore Women’s Health Care in St. Joseph is a Trustee. She says, “I am very excited SMC has chosen to place a high priority on supporting our health care training programs.” She adds, “Simulation training in the new labs will help our students to be better equipped to provide safe and effective care. The construction of the new Nursing and Health Education building will help to ensure that our students continue to receive a high-quality education, preparing them to become integral parts of our local health care teams.”

SMC’s project manager, Building and Grounds Department head John Eberhart, attends weekly progress meetings with Rockford’s management team and architect Abonmarche Consultants, Inc. of Bentor Harbor. Eberhart, a licensed electrician, said preliminary work “actually started a year in advance” with rerouting the high-voltage hub.

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Eberhart says, “Right now there are a couple of plumbers, a couple of sheet metal guys, three electricians, Rockford has a couple of guys doing framing, there’s some roofers and steelworkers who are here on and off and masons working on the brick. We’ve probably got 20 people coming and going most of the time.”

Safety is stressed throughout. Anyone entering the construction site for more than a visit must complete Rockford’s safety orientation. Eberhart says, “If they see the Rockford sticker (on hard hats), they know you’ve been trained.”  Each weekly “toolbox talk” contains a reminder about a different topic, including driving carefully on campus and managing interaction with students and staff. Work generally runs from 7 am to 5 pm.

Eberhart is pleased, saying, “Rockford is a great company, very forward-thinking.”

The project is doubling the size of SMC’s existing 1970 School of Nursing and Health Services to 29,000 square feet and equipping it with four state-of-the-art simulation labs and a 16-bed skills lab. Work began after the September 6th construction celebration at the Charles O. Zollar Building with then-Michigan Budget Director Al Pscholka.

Pscholka, as House Appropriations Committee chair, shepherded the project through the Legislature with help from state Sen. John Proos and state Reps. Dave Pagel and Aaron Miller to secure $4 million from the State.

Pscholka says, “It’s an investment, not only in our region, but in a profession where we are seeing growth. There will be 500,000 nurses retiring between now and 2022, which means we need to fill 1.1 million openings in the next five years just to stay even.”

The added instructional space will allow SMC to admit 50-percent more students — 120 annually instead of 80.

Abonmarche’s previous architectural projects for SMC include Alumni Plaza, Foster W. Daugherty and William P.D. O’Leary building updates and new Dowagiac campus entryways.