Overcast skies and a light rain did not dampen the enthusiasm for a ceremony marking the start of a new nursing education building at Aiken Technical College.
Doctor Forest Mahan, president of Aiken Tech, said the groundbreaking marks the beginning of the next chapter in the school’s commitment to educating healthcare professionals. He said it was the result of partnerships the school has formed in its dedication to providing skilled, compassionate, and dedicated professionals.
“And it’s important to note that if you look around this campus, in addition to this building that we’re about to break ground for, we’ve got a renovation of our new administration building, plus the building of a nearly 100,000 square foot new Career and Technology Center in partnership with the Aiken County School District. And none of that would have been possible without the partnerships that we formed,” he said.
Aiken Tech’s plan for the $17.3 million building got an $11.5 million boost from the settlement of the Savannah River Site lawsuit in the wake of the failed mixed oxide (MOX) project.
S.C. Senator Tom Young (R-District 24) said getting funds from the 2020 settlement for Aiken County was not a foregone conclusion. That was up to the General Assembly when finalizing the 2022-2023 state budget.
“In that budget, we had an allocation of funding that distributed the settlement funds from the 2020 settlement, and of that amount, nearly $170 million of it was going to projects within Aiken County,” he explained. Over $40 million of those dollars are being invested right here on the Aiken Technical College campus. Eleven and a half million is the nursing center investment, and over $30 million of it is the Career and Technology Center investment.”
Gary Bunker, Chairman of the Aiken County Council, recalled that other parts of the state were trying to get a piece of the settlement. But, in the end, the work of Senator Young and the rest of the legislative delegation secured the money for the counties most impacted by the plant.
“We know that this is just a tremendous asset for Aiken County, particularly in terms of job training and bringing people into the workforce with critical skills,” he said. “We know that this new facility, with the greater output of registered nurses and LPNs, is going to help meet our local demand for healthcare professionals. There’s never enough, and the more that we can grow internally, the better off we’re going to be as a community.”
Doctor Hannah Williams, Dean of the School of Nursing, said the state-of-the-art building will be more than just bricks and mortar. It is an investment in the health and well-being of the Aiken community today and for the future.
“That building represents growth,” she told ABD. “This will allow us to increase our enrollment. It will give us the space we need to adequately prepare our student nurses, state-of-the-art equipment, and simulators. We know there’s a dire need for nurses, but we also know there’s a shortage, so we have to place ourselves in a position to meet the demands of the community.”
Williams said once the nursing program moves into the new building, it will free up space in the current building for other health sciences programs such as medical assistants and radiology technicians.
The target for completion is Summer of 2026.
