April 21, 2023
A bold new home for School of Nursing and Health Sciences
Providence College will begin construction in the summer of 2023 on a new School of Nursing and Health Sciences on the site of Fennell Hall.
The five-story, 125,000-square-foot building will be the largest on campus. It was designed by SLAM of Glastonbury, Connecticut, the architectural firm that designed the Science Complex addition and the Ruane Center for the Humanities. It is scheduled for completion in January 2025.
The building will include a 7,000-square- foot suite that simulates a hospital floor for acute-care patients. Under the supervision of instructors, students will learn how to use medical equipment, perform diagnostic tests, and update records on digitally controlled manikins — full-body patient simulators designed to mimic human anatomy and physiology. The Clinical Simulation Suite will make it possible for 50 percent of a nursing student’s required clinical experience to take place on campus.
The building also will feature a 100-seat auditorium-style classroom, student study and collaboration areas, maker space and research labs, a student advising and career center, faculty offices, an oratory chapel, a plaza and pavilion, and a dining facility. It will anchor the east part of campus along the Smith Center quad and is intended to be a collaborative academic center for the entire community.
College President Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78, ’82G announced his goal to offer programs in nursing and health sciences during his inaugural address in October 2021. The bachelor’s degree in nursing was approved by the state of Rhode Island in September The college will enroll its first 50 nursing majors and 50 health sciences majors this fall. New laboratories have been constructed in the Feinstein Academic Center to serve students until the new building is ready.
“This facility will set us apart among healthcare education programs,” said Father Sicard. “It will be a powerful draw for the excellent students who aspire to be the skilled, compas- sionate healers the Providence College nursing and health sciences programs will produce.”
College President Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78, ’82G
