Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., has begun construction on a building to house its Beaver College of Health Sciences.
The 203,000-square-foot facility will rise on a 9.2-acre parcel of land adjacent to Watauga Medical Center and donated by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.
A $70 million allocation from the $2 billion Connect NC bond issue, approved earlier this year by voters, will help pay for the construction.
The building will house high-tech and innovative classrooms, faculty offices, a student information commons and gallery, a student leadership and success center, an inter-professional health clinic, food innovation and exploration labs, exercise physiology and human performance labs, nursing simulation and clinical innovation, rehabilitative science labs, human anatomy and physiology labs, human cadaver lab, and numerous problem-based learning classrooms.
The university says that nearly 20 percent of its students are taught by Beaver College of Health Sciences faculty. The college has six departments and offers 16 undergraduate and graduate degrees.
"This world-class facility will expand our capacity to provide healthcare professionals for North Carolina,” University Chancellor Sheri N. Everts says in a news release. “With qualified healthcare professionals and healthcare educators, Appalachian can help meet the demand created by a critical shortage of health care access, particularly for residents in the rural areas of our state.
