New nursing school will double number of nursing graduates

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — Construction was beginning Wednesday on a new nursing school building at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College campus.

Officials said Tuesday the $12 million, 48,000-square-foot building will be located on Mississippi Highway 67.

MGCCCC spokeswoman Kathy McAdams told The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/1Djo59t ) the facility will house the school's nursing programs from the Jackson County, Jefferson Davis and Perkinston campuses.

McAdams said it will contain more than $2 million in the latest medical simulators and equipment that will give students practice in nursing techniques on lifelike mannequins.

MGCCC enrolls about 450 nursing students each year. This center will allow that number to double, McAdams said. Construction will take about 18 months and it is projected to open in late 2016.

MGCCC announced plans for it in November 2013, aided by the 2012 passage of the Mississippi Health Care Industry Zone Act, which provides incentives for new health care-related projects. The state has a goal of 4,000 new nurses by 2016.

About $12 million for the complex comes from Katrina Community Development Block Grant money. The land was donated. MGCCC contributed about $2 million, and $3.5 million from the Mississippi Development Authority will be used for roadway, water and sewer improvements in the area.

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Information from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com

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