WVU School of Nursing Opens New Bridgeport Campus at United Hospital Center
By Chris Johnson on October 05, 2022
As the entire country faces a shortage of nurses, the West Virginia University School of Nursing and United Hospital Center have joined forces to combat the issue.
On Tuesday at UHC there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the School of Nursing’s newest campus.
The Bridgeport campus will offer the fast-track BS/BA to BSN nursing program with the first class set to begin on Jan. 9. And when they arrive they will be able to use state-of-the art classrooms and skill labs while being in close proximity to the clinical facility.
“When you have a shortage in nursing, everybody feels it,” said David F. Hess, M.D., president and CEO of UHC. “It’s great to partner with the premier training institution in the state of West Virginia. To have a site here on our campus, it creates a halo effect.
“Whenever you are a teaching institution, it makes everybody in the hospital better. You go from being a great community hospital to being a great community hospital where your nursing staff goes home and reads at night and studies to be able to train a new generation of nurses.”
The Bridgeport Campus features two conference rooms that can also serve as study spaces, a student lounge, offices for staff and what Bridgeport Campus Chair Veronica Gallo calls the most exciting spot on the floor, the simulation room.
“It’s a clinical work area, Gallo said. “This is where they are taught before going to see live patients. We teach them skills, have mock patient scenarios. We have a number of high and medium fidelity simulators which are mannequins with varying functions.
“Our highest fidelity simulator, he can breath, he can be made to look like he’s had a stroke. We can make his lungs make sounds. He can scream. His tongue swells, he has pulses, his jaw clinches.”
Gallo said there are also child and infant simulators in the room as well so students can practice on pediatrics as well.
“There is no doubt this program will be success,” Gallo said. It’s a win-win for nursing and for our community.”
The maximum size for a class is 24 and according to Tara Hulsey, Dean and E. Jane Martin Endowed Professor, WVU School of Nursing and she said 21 students have already been accepted for the inaugural Bridgeport campus class in January. The course last 18 months.
“With this program, we can train nurses faster,” Hulsey said. “The hospital was already expanding, so the timing was perfect for us to bring the fast-track program to a setting where there was a need.”
Hess and members of UHC’s Board of Directors were also able on Tuesday to present a check on behalf of UHC to the School of Nursing Bridgeport Campus in the amount of $100,000 that will go toward furnishing and equipment.
“We have been undergoing a tremendous amount of growth,” Hess said. “The demand for our services has never been higher. We have turned into a referral center for the central and north central part of the state. Because of that, we are having to grow all of our clinical services.
“As we planned that expansion, we thought what a great partner the WVU School of Nursing would be and we hope to reap the benefits.
“We cannot unilaterally solve nursing shortages, but together, we are uniquely positioned to meet the demands of our region and state.”
Editor's Note: Top photo features the ribbon cutting for the WVU School of Nursing's Bridgeport Campus. In the second photo, Gallo demonstrates working on a simulator. The third photo features Hulsey and in the bottom photo, Hess is joined by UHC Board members in presenting a check to the School of Nursing.
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