A visiting United States senator and other guests saw Tuesday how a $7.4 million federal grant is being spent on creating new classrooms where future generations of nurses and other health care professionals will learn their skills.

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. visited Bluefield State University to tour parts of the former Bluefield Regional Medical Center which are being converted into the university’s Medical Education Center. In September Capito, a ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, helped secure a $7.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

About three years ago, Bluefield State University purchased the former hospital with the mission to create a dormitory space – which now has 250 beds – so the university would have its first dorms in over 50 years, said Interim President Darrin Martin. The cafeteria has been renovated and work started on the second floor to create new classrooms for the university’s health programs such as nursing and radiology. Capito and other guests toured finished classrooms ready for their furnishings and equipment.

“The first phase which you’re in now is our nursing phase, which is about to be completed,” Martin told Capito. “And we will have classes in here starting in January.”

Capito and the other guests then visited the classrooms and offices that will be the Medical Education Center’s Phase II. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2025 with the facility to be completed by late summer.

Martin told Capito how his mother, who was hospitalized last year, was cared for by a nurse who turned out to be a Bluefield State graduate.

“She said at Bluefield State, they taught us how to care,” Martin said.

Capito said some hospitals can fill gaps in their staffing with traveling nurses and medical technicians, but this can be expensive, so there is a need for more nurses.

“They are growing professions,” Capito said after the tour. “We have great need across the country, particularly in West Virginia, and so I got to see what is going to be their school of nursing and they have dormitories in the building, which they haven’t had for many, many years.”

Martin called the grant and the investment it was allowing “a game-changer” for Bluefield State’s students and the communities they will be serving.

“It will allow us to expand our medical programs and offer hands-on training opportunities in a modern, state-of-the-art facility. We are deeply appreciative of Senator Capito’s commitment to the future of health care in West Virginia,” Martin said. “By offering students more pathways to pursue careers in high-demand health fields, we are helping to address workforce shortages while providing top-tier education and holding to our mission of serving our community and providing an affordable, accessible opportunity for public higher education.”