Old hospital getting new life with college
Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, September 2, 2015
- Pictured at a ceremony last week are, from left: DCCC trustees Neal Foster and Bill Steed, DCCC faculty member Renee Fortenberry, trustee chair Ken White, college president Dr. Mary Rittling, and members of the Davie County Hospital Foundaton board, Barbara Allen, Avalon Potts and Terry Renegar.
Members of the Davie Hospital Foundation presented a check for more than $146,000 to Dr. Mary Rittling and Davidson County Community College to support the DCCC Surgical Technology and Central Sterile Processing training programs being conducted at the former hospital in Mocksville.
The space will be used as a sort of lab in a classroom training center for healthcare professionals.
DCCC has been able to reclaim and repurpose actual operating rooms and medical support facilities at the hospital, converting them into classrooms. Classes started in August.
Compared to the traditional classrooms that most healthcare students train in, these operating rooms and support facilities somewhat duplicats the physical constraints of a real-world operating room.
While students are the immediate beneficiaries of this partnership, the long-term beneficiary will be local healthcare employers who will have access to trained staff.
According to Terry Bralley, president of the Davie County Economic Development Commission, this is just one more example of economic development as a team sport.
“This workforce development initiative combines the vision, talent, energy and leadership of the Davie County Hospital Foundation with the vision, talent, energy and leadership of the local community college and the vision, talent energy and leadership of the Davie County Hospital Board of Trustees,” Bralley said.
The support of Wake Forest Baptist Health was integral as they recognized the need and supported the project by leasing the space at no cost to the community college.
Terry Renegar, chair of the Davie County Board of Commissioners, said the project came together quickly and that it is a testament to what can be accomplished in Davie County when organizations with a vested community interest identify an issue and work toward a common solution.
“Living at the intersection of industry and education, where good things are bound to happen, this is the next step toward building a local world-class health care system that works for everyone,” he said.
