New Health Sciences was officially opened on My 10 at Douglas College’s David Lam campus in Coquitlam by Premier Gordon Campbell. It creates spaces for 1,500 more students – primarily in health-care professions including nursing and seniors’ care.
It was the part of the program on increasing the number of health-care professionals who are educated in B.C., including doctors, nurses and other health professionals.
The program started in 2001. Since that time, the Province has provided more than $1.4 billion in new funding for more than 650 capital projects on post-secondary campuses around B.C.
Between 2001-02 the Province provided operating funding for 3,347 new education spaces in nursing programs across B.C. In 2007-08 it doubled the number of first-year seats for undergraduate medical students to 256, as well as adding 404 spaces in home support and resident care attendant programs, and 853 spaces for other health professionals, including medical laboratory technology, medical radiography (imaging) technology, and physiotherapy.
As for Douglas College’s Health Sciences Centre which has already been called a new jewel in the crown of education facilities and cost$39.3-million , the Province provided $35.2 million towards the 9,720-square-metre Health Sciences Centre and Douglas College contributed another $4.1 million.
Education facilities in this centre are unique and include:
• The latest in computerized patient simulation labs, with four humanoid «patients» that can talk, breathe, bleed, dilate their pupils and respond to drugs administered by students.
• Four multi-bed labs that prepare nursing students to work on hospital wards.
• Two fully furnished apartments for home-care instruction.
• Large classrooms for roundtable student collaboration.
It is worth mentioning that the centre was built to minimize impact on the environment, including using locally manufactured building materials with high recycled content wherever possible.