Members of Northern Health, local politicians, donors and Northern Lights College staff came together on March 17 to celebrate the opening of the new health care lab on the Fort St John Campus.
The new lab is a part of NLC’s ongoing dedication to increasing healthcare education in the North, meeting the needs of our local communities.
The Dawson Creek campus has had a fully equipped lab as part of its Health Sciences building for many years, while the Fort St. John nursing students and staff have either been travelling to the Dawson Creek or gratefully using UNBC’s four-bed nursing lab on the campus.
With the increase in enrolment in health sciences (approximately 150 students per year) it was evident that the FSJ campus needed its own nursing lab. The FSJ campus was already undergoing renovations, which made the perfect opportunity to do the nursing lab at the same time.
The new six-bed health lab was transformed from an underutilized computer lab and sits on the top floor of the Jim Kassen Industry Training Centre. The renovation required careful planning as well as resources. The Fort St. John Palliative Care Society and Northern Health provided hospital beds, and the project was also supported by the NLC Cares initiative. The lab is accredited and recognized by the BC Care Aide Registry and the BC College of Nurses and Midwives.
Not only will this lab provide state-of-the-art equipment and space for the nursing students to experience hands-on learning, but it also means FSJ health sciences students no longer have to travel to Dawson Creek for their lab classes.
While travel between campuses can be part of the NLC experience, offering opportunities to experience the beauty of the region, it presents challenges in the winter months, when the weather isn’t good for travel. Students can attend lectures online or by videoconference, but there is no replacement for the face to face lab portion of the health sciences classes.
Building this lab required support from leadership at NLC, donors, as well as input from health care experts.
By investing in this space, we are investing in the next generation of healthcare professionals in the northern community, ensuring that we are prepared for the complexities in today’s health system.
Nicole DAhlen, Dean Health Sciences and Human Services, NLC
Dahlen called the lab a safe learning environment where anxiety can turn into confidence for students.
“This beautiful new health lab is designed to be a safe place, a space where mistakes are not final, but educational,” she said. “By investing in this space, we are investing in the next generation of healthcare professionals in the northern community, ensuring that we are prepared for the complexities in today’s health system.”
Todd Bondaroff, President and CEO of Northern Lights College, explained how an increase in enrolment over the last several semesters in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John campuses have led to waiting lists for some programs.
“It’s really exciting for us to be able to not only be at capacity where we have existing programming, but now we’re looking at expanding,” Bondaroff said.
He further explained the plans to have health care programs in Chetwynd and eventually in Fort Nelson.
“We’re really excited about that future, he said. “This for us, really is an example of what our faculty can do to step up the to the challenge of creating this amazing space.”
Tara Hyland-Russel, Vice President of Academic and Research was pleased to see this project come to fruition.
“This new lab is an important part of NLC Cares Allied Health Strategy, which aims to support our region’s healthcare needs by providing training for people who live in the north to learn in the north and stay in the north,” she said. This new lab is an important part of NLC Cares Allied Health Strategy, which aims to support our region’s healthcare needs by providing training for people who live in the north to learn in the north and stay in the north.”
If you want to lean more about how NLC is addressing the Health Care needs of the North, go to https://www.nlc.bc.ca/nlc-cares/
