HCC expands presence in Texas Medical Center with groundbreaking for Coleman Educational Healthcare Facility
Oct 27, 2015
The only community college in the heart of the Texas Medical Center is about to make an even bigger footprint in the world-renowned medical complex.
“This is a great time to celebrate the next step in the growth of Houston Community College,” said Dr. Cesar Maldonado, chancellor. “It’s an expansion of our Health Sciences Center of Excellence.”
Chancellor Maldonado, HCC Trustees, faculty, staff, and students along with members of the medical community, broke ground for the new Coleman Educational Healthcare Facility. It is the tenth groundbreaking under the $425M HCC Groundbreaker Bond Program.
“This is for the students,” said Teddy Tovar, director of the Respiratory Therapy Program at HCC Coleman College for Health Sciences. “We want to be state of the art, a center of excellence. In order to be that, we have to have the building, the equipment, the technology and that is what this is going to offer us.”
The 10-story Coleman Educational Healthcare Facility will offer 248,000 square feet of traditional classrooms and simulation labs to mimic real hospital settings, an auditorium, reception area, bookstore, and a student services center. There will also be a footbridge over Pressler Street that will connect to the current Coleman Campus. The building will be energy efficient constructed with sustainable building methods designed to meet LEED Silver certification requirements.
“It will be an entry way to the Texas Medical Center,” said Dr. Phillip Nicotera, HCC Coleman College president. “It positions us in a much more prominent way here and allows us to expand some of our programs.”
The Health Sciences Center of Excellence currently offers associate degrees and certificates in more than 20 health science fields, but that number is expected to grow with the demand for more high-skill, high growth occupations.
Lottie Kesee, a student in the Human Services Technology program at HCC Coleman College, was thrilled to see shovels hit the ground.
“This new building represents innovation and because technology has changed so much, we are changing with it,” said Kesee. “Any change is for the better when you are trying to keep up with what’s going on in the world and that is what Coleman is bringing right now.”
Glen Smith runs the Nuclear Medicine Technology Program at HCC Coleman College and just like his fellow faculty members, had a hand in designing the labs with the architects at HDR, Inc.
“We told them what we needed. We are going to have this for the students of the future and into the new millennium,” said Smith.
“This new facility means new opportunities for student success and growth,” said Trustee Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, District IV. “I think it’s wonderful that HCC has such a great presence in the Texas Medical Center. To be able to offer this opportunity to the Houston community is just awesome.”
Construction is set to begin next month with a target opening for Summer 2017. To see the progress of the current projects in the HCC Groundbreaker Bond Program, visit hccs.edu/bond.