Lexington Medical Center plans to build a 52,000-square-foot nursing simulation center and teaching facility at its campus in West Columbia, S.C., the hospital said Feb. 16.
The medical center is building the training facility in partnership with the University of South Carolina in Columbia. The university will provide equipment and furnishings for the simulation center and classrooms, while Lexington Medical Center will fund the new facility and provide clinical instructors.
Third- and fourth-year nursing bachelor's students and master's program students will conduct their clinical training at the facility.
About 220 nurses graduate from the University of South Carolina's College of Nursing each year. The new training center will bump this number up to 400 nurse graduates annually.
The facility is expected to welcome its first cohort of nursing students in fall 2024.