Newly named Central Hall ushers new era of health care providers, incorporates partner-enabled improvements

Interior renovations prepare for nursing opportunities

The new home to the School of Nursing at Bowling Green State University is starting to take shape  with construction underway in the former College of Business annex, now known as Central Hall. 

Located in the heart of campus, the new school addresses a long-standing nursing shortage and is scheduled to open in fall 2021.

“The new facility for our School of Nursing will be spectacular," said Dr. Jim Ciesla, dean of BGSU’s College of Health and Human Services. He said recent health crises have made the public even more aware of the tremendous need for nurses.

“Even after the current health care crisis, though, jobs are expected to grow much faster than average through most of the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Ciesla said. “The need is so great that high-paying jobs are going unfilled."

Formerly known as the Business Administration Building, the facility previously housed traditional classrooms and offices. This fall, following the Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business move to the Robert W. and Patricia A. Maurer Center, crews began retrofitting the building for state-of-the-art skills and simulation laboratories to support the growing nursing program at BGSU.

Ciesla said the facility will provide new opportunities for students to develop the much-needed nursing skills their communities need.

Wood County Hospital is supporting the nursing simulation lab with a $100,000 gift.

“This represents a major initiative to improve health care in Ohio,” said Stan Korducki, president of Wood County Hospital. “Never has there been more demand for good, well-trained nurses.”

In addition to the nursing simulation lab, the new space will be student-friendly, with spaces adjacent to the lab for students to congregate, interact and study.

"Not only will there be state-of-the-art teaching and learning laboratories, such as a high-fidelity human simulation laboratory," Ciesla said, "but by design the space will encourage student and faculty interaction and interdisciplinarity to create a comfortable learning environment.”

To make the school and the major even more accessible to motivated students, Henry County Hospital established and endowed a scholarship for BGSU’s growing RN to BSN completion program by making a $35,000 gift. The RN to BSN program is available entirely online to help working registered nurses complete their bachelor’s degree.

The scholarship funded by Henry County Hospital gives preference to students matriculating to BGSU from Northwest State Community College (NSCC) as part of a new articulation agreement. With Henry County Hospital’s location in proximity to BGSU’s campus in neighboring Wood County and NSCC in Fulton County, this support highlights the connection between higher learning institutions and local health care providers in terms of workforce development in the region.

"Nursing is a calling we take seriously as a public university for the public good," Ciesla said, "and I know our students do, too.”