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Pima Community College to Unveil New $33 Million Health Professions Center with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at West Campus

TUCSON, AZ – Pima Community College (PCC) is excited to announce the grand opening of its state-of-the-art Center of Excellence in Health Professions with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, January 24, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at the West Campus. The program will start at 3:30 p.m., followed by the official ribbon-cutting and facility tours. The Center will double the enrollment in many PCC health professions programs to help address the shortage of healthcare workers in Pima county.

The four-story, three-building complex encompasses nearly 81,000 square feet and represents a $33 million investment in the future of healthcare education at Pima. The Center will support advanced training for programs in Nursing, Surgical Technology, Pharmacy, Dental Studies, Home Health, and Respiratory Therapy. The Center features cutting-edge classrooms, specialized high-tech laboratories and simulators designed to prepare students for high-demand careers in healthcare.

Equipped with $2.5 million of new, state-of-the-art technology and equipment, funded through federal HUD-directed funding, the Health Professions Center sets a new standard for healthcare education in Southern Arizona. Construction began in October 2023.

Event Details

What: Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Center of Excellence: Health Professions Center
Where: Pima Community College, West Campus
2202 W. Anklam Rd., Tucson, AZ 85709
When: Friday, January 24, 2025. Doors open: 3:00 p.m., Program begins: 3:30 p.m.,
Ribbon-cutting ceremony to follow. Facility tours and demonstrations after the ceremony

Media Information
For media outlets unable to attend, PCC-TV will provide b-roll footage and soundbites by 7:00 p.m. on the day of the event. To request these materials, please email jkree@pima.edu.

Fast Facts - PCC Center of Excellence in Health Professions

Use: Student-centric space for 21st century health professions education, healthcare workforce upskilling and professional development for the workforce of the future

  • Size: 80,760 square feet
  • Cost: $33,000,000

H Building

  • Ground Floor: Operating Room Lab – Surgical Technology; Pulmonary Lab – Respiratory Care
  • First Floor: Three Health Professions Skills Labs – Registered Nurse, Practical Nurse, Nurse Assistant and general use
  • Second Floor: Five Health Professions Skills Labs – Registered Nurse, Practical Nurse and Nurse Assistant
  • Third Floor: Simulation Center (nine bays); Anatomy Lab; Mixed Reality Lab; Home Health Lab

J Building

  • Ground Floor: Clinical Lab – Medical Lab Technology; Research and Pharmacy Lab – Clinical Research Coordinator and Pharmacy Technology; Medical Front and Back Office – Medical Assistant
  • First Floor: Two Health Professions Skills Labs – Registered Nurse, Practical Nurse, Nurse Assistant and general use; three Hyflex Classrooms
  • Second Floor: Five Hyflex Classrooms
  • Third Floor: Administrative Suite and Conference Rooms

K Building

  • Ground Floor: Imaging Lab –Radiologic Technology
  • First Floor: Dental Clinic – Dental Assisting and Dental Hygiene; Dental Laboratory – Dental Lab Technology, Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting

New Spaces – H and J Buildings:

  • 8 specialty labs, 10 Flexible Skills labs, 9 simulation bays
  • 43 beds total
  • 3 operating room suites
  • 8 new Hyflex classrooms
  • New Saguaro Community Room with indoor/outdoor activity space and Hyflex meeting technology
  • 20 state-of-the-art conference and meeting rooms
  • 4 student commons areas for collaboration
  • 2 student lounges
  • 3D Anatomage Table – all programs and Biology Department
  • Life-size silicone human anatomy model (Syndaver G3) – all programs and Biology Department
  • Syndaver Surgical Model (lifelike synthetic cadaver) – all programs and Biology Department
  • 24 zSpace 3D laptops – all programs and Biology Department
  • 24 MetaQuest 3 mixed reality headsets – all programs
  • Low-, Mid- and High-fidelity manikins – all programs
  • New monitors and digital instructional technology throughout
  • A cloud-based simulation management system connecting various labs to the Simulation Center, allowing simulations to occur in any lab space
  • $2.5 million dollars in new equipment through federal HUD-directed funding for the Center of Excellence in Health Professions

CONTACT:

Justin Kree
Director of Media Relations
Pima Community College
Office: 520.206.4850
Cell: 520.710.7170
jkree@pima.edu 

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