Skip to main content
Your Page Title

UMMC starts construction on new nursing school

Email share
Comments
Breaking ground on the new UMMC School of Nursing are, from left, Dr. Scott Rodgers, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs; Dr. Michael Parnell, UMMC School of Nursing Alumni Association president; Rep. John Read; Rep. Jason White; House Speaker Philip Gunn; Dr. Tina Martin, interim dean of the School of Nursing; nursing students Rayne Jensen and Amari Reginal; Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine; Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann; U.S. Rep. Michael Guest; Higher Education Commissioner Dr. Alfred Rankins Jr.; and architect Jim Eley, principal of Eley Guild Hardy Architects.
Photo courtesy of UMMC

The only university medical center in the state is breaking ground on a new facility for its nursing students.

Lacey Alexander

UMMC starts construction on new nursing school facility

00:0000:00

A 106,000 square foot facility will be the newest addition to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. The new building will be the nursing school's latest update since 1999 after the Mississippi Legislature appropriated $55 million dollars to the project during this year's session. State lawmakers joined UMMC employees for a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at the UMMC campus. 

The panel of speakers included Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann, who said the medical center was important to state lawmakers.

“It's our university… and we've been very supportive of them and they do great work,” he said. “They are at the highest level of trauma care, they went through COVID with us. I mean, you can look at everything they've done, but particularly they're educating our doctors, our nurses and our dentists here.”

Dr. Tina Martin is the Interim Dean of the School of Nursing at UMMC. She says lawmakers likely agreed to funding the new school because of the quality of students the program produces.

“I know there are a lot of competing priorities, but I feel like The UMMC School of Nursing has shown that we're able to produce graduates that are ready to transition to practice,” she said.

UMMC reports that the new building will allow a 25% increase in the number of nursing school graduates.