Austin Peay State University held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Health Professions building in Clarksville, TN on Thursday, Sept. 11. The new, three-story facility consolidates all of the university’s health professions programs into one central location. The building’s origins stretch back multiple years, but the hope is the structure will allow students across the various health professions majors to collaborate for years to come.
Planning and Construction
The university has had its eye on bringing all of the health professions students together under one roof since the beginning of the decade. The Tennessee General Assembly came through with funding for the proposed project as part of the state’s 2021-22 annual budget, allowing the planning process to start in earnest.
The school brought on Hastings Architecture, LLC and Ayes Saint Gross on to design the building. I.C Thomasson Associates, Inc. served as the mechanical engineer, EMC Structural Engineers, P.C., as the structural engineer, and Barge Cauthen & Associates, Inc. as the civil engineer. Messer Construction broke ground Aug. 2023 and finished the project in just under two years.
The New Health Professions Building
The 114,6000 square foot, $65 million project includes state-of-the-art features such as research labs, active learning classrooms, collaborative learning spaces, and clinic/diagnostic spaces for the local community. One of the driving forces behind the project was the university’s desire to help address the healthcare worker shortage currently affecting the state of Tennessee.
The plan is to alleviate this shortage by using the new space to train even more students in an immersive environment. Austin Peay students now have access to simulated inpatient and outpatient rooms, home care apartments, consultation rooms, and a fully functional diagnostic laboratory equipped with the latest medical devices.
Additionally, the new facility will bring together students who are majoring in nursing, allied health sciences, health and human performance, psychological science, and counseling, and social work for the purpose of collaboration. APSU’s College of STEM Dean Dr. Karen Meisch specifically touched on this subject in front of the gathered crowd at the ribbon cutting.
“It is a space intentionally designed to foster collaboration across disciplines, preparing graduates to deliver holistic, patient-centered care,” Dr. Meisch said. “By bringing our programs together under one roof, we are creating opportunities for future health care professionals to learn side-by-side, just as they will work in practice.”
At Construction Protection Systems, we’re proud to have played a small part in development of the Austin Peay Health Professions Building. Stay tuned for more updates from the makers of 1-2-3 Door Shield—the original, reusable door protection system.