The Baton Rouge Community College Mid City campus
Inside the Bienvenue Student Center, students line up for information about enrollment and financial aid, days before the start of the fall semester at Baton Rouge Community College, seen Thursday, August 16, 2018.
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The Baton Rouge Community College Mid City campus
Inside the Bienvenue Student Center, students line up for information about enrollment and financial aid, days before the start of the fall semester at Baton Rouge Community College, seen Thursday, August 16, 2018.
Just after announcing it would invest $170 million on health initiatives involving LSU, Our Lady of the Lake says it will invest in another Baton Rouge institution.
The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System announced in a press conference that OLOL is investing $12 million into Baton Rouge Community College for the construction of a new nursing and allied health building.
According to BRCC Chancellor Willie Smith, a portion of funds will go toward renovating part of the Bonne Sante wellness center on campus to “focus on sports medicine and training”.
The new facility will connect the BRCC School of Nursing and Division of Allied Health as well as programs in nursing, medical assistance, surgical technology and sonography.
“This investment will impact not only our students in the nursing and allied health program, it will also make a significant impact in our community,” Smith said.
Once completed, Smith said the 95,000-square-foot facility would have the capacity to serve 1,200 students.
Groundbreaking on the project will take place by the summer and, according to Smith, construction should be completed in 2023.
Scott Wester, FMOLH vice president of strategic partnerships, said he understands how important it is to put money and resources behind healthcare workers.
“Today is one of our city’s most significant local investments in healthcare and our healthcare workforce,” he said, adding “$12 million is going to be put toward educating the next generation of healthcare workers.
“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it taught us that we have to think very differently when we solve complex problems and we have to work together.”
According to Wester, OLOL is one of the nation’s top 30 largest hospitals and employs more than 10,000 people in Baton Rouge.
The goal, from a health system perspective, is to create a clear path where students interested in the medical profession can rise through the educational ranks from high school through community college — or a university — and straight into the workforce, the college and the hospital system said.
Wester said this was the thinking that inspired the $170 million academic investment partnership between OLOL and LSU announced Feb. 11. That deal also included an additional $75 million from the Louisiana Children’s Medical Center.
In creating ties to both a state university and community college, OLOL and FMOLH said they can support local students to bring forth the next generation of healthcare professionals.
“We want to create those pipeline opportunities for those students who are interested in this space for careers,” Wester said. “It could be at so many different levels and when you partner with LSU on top of it, that even extends that pipeline even larger with these educational institutions.”
East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, who was in attendance at a press conference Friday in BRCC’s Magnolia Library, shared that she believes the investment was a “great moment” for the city and parish.
“Collaboration is key to the progress taking place in our city,” she said. “Our Lady of the Lake’s investment in Baton Rouge Community College is a true testament to the power of collaboration and partnership within Baton Rouge and how much we can accomplish when we work together.”
Email Terell Wilkins at twilkins@theadvocate.com or follow him on Twitter, @terelljwilkins.
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