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Significant progress has been made on the construction of the new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences: the frame is set, the beams are up and construction crews are steadily working to complete the state-of-the-art facility that will become the home to Fairfield’s Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies students for years to come. While walls have yet to be added to the structure, there is one special wall that is already awaiting its place in the new building.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies faculty, students and staff signed a wall that will be featured in the new, more than 70,000 square-foot building. Part of the schedule of events for Alumni & Family Weekend, parents of current nursing students as well as former nursing students also contributed to the wall, marking their place in ������ý��Ƶ�����ƹۿ� history.

“We wanted as many students, faculty, parents, alumni, advisory board [members] and friends of the Egan School to be included in the new building as possible,” said Dean Meredith Wallace Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN, on the wall signing. “Having everyone sign a piece of the structure will ensure that all will be included in this exciting initiative.”

Senior nursing major Kimberly DeRosa '17 shared that after signing the wall, she felt “as if I will be a part of the building, even though I will be graduating before the new facility opens.”

Other students, DeRosa said, were similarly impacted by the wall signing. “Students felt excited and honored, just like myself, to be a part of this experience. We were all appreciative that the school thought of us to partake in this event that will be included in the history of Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies.”

Once the new building is complete, it will not only feature the signed wall, it will also host advanced learning environments and equipment, including state-of-the-art clinical settings and workspaces like the anesthesia simulation room, a control room and modern labs that will accommodate more than 650 students. The project, when completed, will be over four times the size of the original complex, which will elevate Fairfield’s impact in the healthcare sector.

“We’ve expanded greatly over the last decades from a small undergraduate nursing program of 200 to a population of almost 700 undergraduate and graduate students. Today, there are over 10,000 Fairfield alumni working in healthcare,” said Dr. Kazer. “This building represents the University’s vision in providing exceptional academics to ensure that our graduates continue to lead healthcare innovation through the years to come.”

The facility will also house the Kanarek Center for Palliative & Supportive Nursing Education, which will focus on developing palliative care awareness, readiness and literacy in every graduate of the Egan School and has plans to extend education into the greater community.

With steady progress being made on the new facility each day, Dr. Kazer said the Egan School will be ready for the 2017-2018 school year.

“We understand that the Gilbane Construction Company is on schedule to complete the building in July 2017, and we look forward to moving in before the September start of the 2017 academic year,” Dr. Kazer shared.

Although DeRosa will be just beginning her career in nursing when the school opens, she knows that it will only bolster Fairfield’s reputation as a top-tier nursing school.

“This is a huge deal that ������ý��Ƶ�����ƹۿ� is opening up this new, state-of-the-art facility,” she said. “There is going to be much success and talent coming out of this school for years to come.”

By Nicole Funaro ‘17