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Columbia to Start Construction of New Nursing School Building in Late 2014

By Ben Fractenberg | October 24, 2013 3:32pm
 Columbia University will start building a new seven-story home for their school of nursing at the corner of 168th Street and Audubon Avenue in late 2014.
Columbia Nursing School Construction
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WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Columbia University Medical Center is planning to start construction on a new home for its school of nursing on 168th Street in late 2014, the university announced Thursday.

The seven-story, 68,000-square-foot building, which will be constructed near Audubon Avenue by architecture firm CO|FXFOWLE, will provide new space for research, a sunlit atrium and two-floor medical simulation center, according to Columbia.

"Future leaders in nursing require technology and facilities that enable them to learn and master the skills that are needed every day in clinical practice and research," said Lee Goldman, MD, Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine and Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences in a statement.

The simulation center will include model health care settings like a mock in-patient room, exam room, critical care unit, and an operating room.

Three clinical teaching labs will have six beds and 14 exam tables where students can practice their skills on lifelike mannequins.

The building will also have a café, rooftop terrace and event space.

The school will also be less than a block away from Washington Heights' first hotel, a 40,000 square-foot, 11-story building at 514 W. 168th St., which is expected to completed in 2014.

Columbia's School of Nursing was founded in 1892 and was the first in the country to award a master's degree in clinical nursing, according to its website.

It is currently housed in the Health Sciences Campus at 617 W. 168th St.

"Columbia's mission of teaching and research, patient care and public service all come together so vitally in our School of Nursing," said Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Columbia University Medical Center said the school does disclose specific costs for construction projects and added that it is too early to speculate when the project will be completed.