Groundbreaking for New UA Capstone College of Nursing Set for Oct. 10

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Capstone College of Nursing at The University of Alabama will host a groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 10 for a new facility that will provide state-of-the-art clinical instruction for UA nursing students working to counter a national nursing shortage.

The 2 p.m. ceremony will be held at the northwest corner of McFarland Boulevard in the 600 block of University Boulevard across from DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa. Those expected to participate in the ceremony are UA President Robert E. Witt; Dr. Sara Barger, dean of the Capstone College of Nursing; and special guests whose generosity supports the new facility.

The new location for the Greek Revival style building makes the College a gateway announcing entrance to the UA campus.

With completion of construction projected for fall 2010, the three-story 60,000 square foot building will aid in UA’s efforts to respond to calls from the health care profession for more nurses. Enrollment in the Capstone College of Nursing has increased 213 percent since 2000 and, according to Barger, the need for a facility designed and dedicated solely to nursing education has also grown.

“Nursing education has changed so much over the last decade, and I’m sure it will change even more over the next decade,” she said. “A new facility not only means more space for students, but also new equipment, and it will also assist with faculty recruitment.”

The College is currently housed in Russell Hall, which was designed as a student health center. The additional 43,000 square feet provided by the new building will allow additional space for patient simulators, seminar rooms and computer facilities.

A combination of federal, state and private support is making construction of the approximately $20 million building possible, and more support is needed to complete the building, says Shelley Jordan, director of advancement for the College. “Naming opportunities are still here, and there is still room for statewide involvement,” Jordan said. To find out more, contact Jordan at 205/348-9876 or sdjordan@bama.ua.edu.

Among the generous private supporters of the building are Georgilee “Hank” Elmore and her family. Elmore, a long-time Dothan resident and widow of Stanhope Elmore, was a World War II Army nurse who worked with Dr. Haywood S. Bartlett of Montgomery. The Elmore family gave $1 million to the building effort.

In honor of Georgilee “Hank” Elmore and to support the College, the Jim Inscoe family gave $1 million toward the building. Inscoe’s wife, Elmore Inscoe, of Montgomery, is a UA alumna and the daughter of Bartlett. “Hank calls me her other daughter,” Elmore Inscoe said. “Hank” Elmore’s late husband was a first cousin of Elmore Inscoe’s mother.

Both families say they provided the gifts as a result of “Hank” Elmore’s passion for nursing and UA.

Inscoe’s daughter, Allison Inscoe Chandler, is a 1995 Capstone College of Nursing graduate and a member of the College’s Board of Visitors.

“The graduates of this program will be taking care of all of us,” Barger says. Alabamians, in particular, should take note. “Eighty-nine percent of the nurses that we graduate stay in-state to work, even if they did not come from in-state.”