The grand opening of the new Katie Paul Allied Health and Nursing Building at Beaufort County Community College has been set for Aug. 13, with a schedule of events that will bring Allied Health alumni back to the college campus to witness the changes in health care.
The event will be the college’s first public event presided over by President Barbara Tansey and give those attending the chance to meet new BCCC’s new leader.
The new building will bring advanced training to Allied Health students at the college and, ultimately, better health care to people in eastern North Carolina, according to Tansey, who announced a schedule of grand-opening events this week.
“The new Katie Paul Allied Health and Nursing Building will allow the college to build on its fine tradition of providing quality education to front-line health care professionals who serve throughout eastern North Carolina,” Tansey said. “The building and its new equipment will expose our students to 21st-century medical practices that will lead to better health care for people throughout the BCCC service area.”
“The college is grateful to the community leaders, health-care educators and the taxpayers of Beaufort County who have all shared in our vision at BCCC of a health-care work force that is prepared to meet the challenges in today’s health care,” she said.
The grand opening will kick off with an open house and luncheon to give BCCC Allied Health alumni the chance to tour the new building and learn about the future of health-related education programs at the college.
The celebration will culminate with a ribbon-cutting event held during a Business After Hours sponsored by the BCCC Foundation, The Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce and Vidant Beaufort Hospital.
The 30,600-square-foot building will, for the first time, house all of the college’s health-sciences programs including the associate degree and practical nursing, medical-laboratory technology and certified nurse aide I and II programs.
Previously, the Allied Health programs were housed in 17,199 square feet of space in three buildings.
“The new building will bring people in Allied Health programs on campus together,” said Erica Schatz, chairman of BCCC’s Allied Health Division. “That should not only benefit the students in these programs but also the faculty and staff.”
With the opening of the new building, BCCC will gradually increase the number of nursing students. BCCC anticipates an expansion of 20 students in the associate-degree nursing program and 10 in the practical-nursing program within the first three to five years, she said.
Like the building that previously housed the college’s nursing programs, the new building will be named for Katie Paul, a pioneer of nurse education in Beaufort County. She was the first director of nursing programs at BCCC.
The new building includes three nursing laboratories, one nurse-aide laboratory, one medical-science laboratory, a 100-seat lecture hall, five classrooms, one computer laboratory and some 20 faculty offices.
Construction costs of some $6.8 million were paid through grants and loans taken by the county and the college. BCCC recently received a grant of nearly $1 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation to update equipment used by Allied Health faculty and students.

Grand-opening events for Aug. 13

• 11 a.m. to noon — Open house and welcoming luncheon for BCCC Allied Health alumni, including associate-degree and practical nurses, medical-laboratory technicians and nurse-aide graduates sponsored by the BCCC Foundation and Vidant Beaufort Hospital.
• Noon to 1 p.m. — Updates by faculty for alumni on the future of Allied Health programs at BCCC.
• 5 to 7 p.m. — Business After Hours and ribbon-cutting event for the Katie Paul Allied Health and Nursing Building sponsored by the BCCC Foundation, the Washington-Beaufort Chamber of Commerce and Vidant Beaufort Hospital.

All events will be held at the Katie Paul Allied Health and Nursing Building located on the east end of the BCCC campus, 5337 U.S. Highway 264 East, Washington, NC 27889.
Allied Health alumni are asked to respond to Marcia Norwood at 252-940-6218 or by email at marcian@beaufortccc.edu by Thursday if they plan to attend.