SMC To Award Bids For Nursing Facility Expansion This Month

medical-48
medical-48

Southwestern Michigan College will award bids for its new nursing program expansion later this month, and from there, the work will get underway quickly. SMC President Dr. David Mathews tells WSJM News they’ll start construction about a week after picking their contractor. SMC is looking to about double its nursing program capacity due to great demand.

“The need is there for more nurses locally within the state of Michigan and even nationally,” Mathews said. “It’s a great employment opportunity for people. There’s supposed to be an almost 20% job growth in nursing by 2022.”

Mathews tells us the nursing program can currently enroll about 40 students each fall and winter, and that will greatly increase after the expansion. The college is adding the latest technology and more space to the nursing building, taking it up from 12,000 square feet to 27,000. The goal is to have the work finished by fall of 2018.