Lincoln University opens $45.5 million Health and Security Sciences Institute
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo (KMIZ)
Lincoln University officially opened its new $45.5 million Health and Security Sciences Institute on Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by university leaders, elected officials and community partners.
The 40,000-square-foot facility at 705 E. Dunklin St. houses the university’s expanded School of Nursing, the Security Sciences Institute and the Law Enforcement Training Academy.
According to Lincoln University, the institute includes nursing simulation labs, practice labs, health assessment labs, recording labs, classrooms and an Emergency Operations Center. The university says the facility is designed to support education and training in health care, public safety, emergency management and security sciences.
Jennifer McCord, dean of the School of Nursing, said the new nursing spaces were designed to better prepare students before entering clinical settings.
“We have really tried to mimic the hospital environment so that they are prepared with their clinical judgment skills. Really trying to give them the skills that give them the confidence that when they are at the bedside, that they know that they are prepared,” McCord said.
University President John Moseley said the institute brings together programs that serve careers needed across Missouri.
“It’s a conglomerate of career fields that are so needed right now in our state and in our nation,” Moseley said. “Our job as a university is not only to help students get degrees, but to make sure they’re able to apply those degrees to a career.”
Moseley said the facility is also intended to help prepare future nurses.
“To have a facility like this on our campus to meet the health care shortage and the need for nurses is a big deal for all of us,” Moseley said. “At some point, our lives will be impacted by a nurse, and so ensuring that they receive great training and are prepared when we visit them is very important for us.”
The project was funded through support from the State of Missouri, Lincoln University, Cole County, the City of Jefferson and other public and private partners.
