PORT ANGELES — Hospital and community health center CEOs lauded Peninsula College for its commitment to health care during the grand opening of its Allied Health and Early Childhood Education Building on Monday.
Eric Lewis, CEO of Olympic Medical Center, called the new $25.6 million building “huge progress,” adding that he hopes many of the nurses and medical assistants the hospital needs will be trained at the college.
“This is really big progress for our community,” he said.
“It shows we’re heading in the right direction.”
Dr. Michael Maxwell, CEO of North Olympic Healthcare Network and a Peninsula College board member, said the new building will help train many of the health care professionals that are needed on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“We’re frequently challenged by the lack of trained and ready support staff,” he said.
The Allied Health portion and Early Childhood Education classroom were open for spring quarter classes, which began March 30.
The Early Childcare Center is complete and will be open for the fall quarter.
Peninsula College President Luke Robins, board Chair Julie McCulloch, Maxwell, Trustee and Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn, Lewis, state Rep. Steve Tharinger, state Rep. Mike Chapman and former Peninsula College Educare Center Director Joy Sheedy spoke during the grand opening.
Peninsula College’s Allied Health and Early Childhood Education programs educate and serve nearly 300 students and families each year.
The 41,650-square-foot building on the school’s main campus on Lauridsen Boulevard features state-of-the-art smart classrooms and clinical lab spaces.
Following a ribbon-cutting, visitors had a chance to tour the building.
They got to see classrooms, simulation labs and the building’s “sticky spaces.”
“[Sticky spaces] are comfortable spaces for students to gather, study together and create opportunities for learning outside of the traditional classroom and lab settings,” Robins said.
The building’s Community Demand Lab is a flexible space that can accommodate rotational instructional programs to meet community demand, such as massage therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy tech and radiology tech.
The building also houses the Early Childhood Development programs and the Childcare Center.
“The new childcare facility housed in this building will provide a fantastic learning laboratory for our early childhood education students, while serving 40 pre-schoolers and approximately 30 toddlers,” Robins said. “And if you haven’t looked around the back of the building, the playground is awesome.”
Tharinger, D-Sequim, said that as the nation continues to address health care, whatever the solution is will involve the students trained at Peninsula College.
“No matter how we end up addressing that … we’re going to need a workforce to deliver that care,” he said. “This facility will be important in the training and the folks that come out of this facility will be very important no matter what happens.”
Glenn, CEO of Jefferson Healthcare, said he couldn’t be more proud of the work that went into the new building.
“A re-occurring theme you’ll pick up is the exploding need for skilled health care workers on the North Olympic Peninsula,” he said.
“It’s possible that I’m biased, but I think a career in health care is the most noble profession anyone can choose,” he said.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
A group tours Peninsula College’s Allied Health and Early Childhood Education Building during its grand opening Monday. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)
