Aldevron Tower nears completion

Drywall, painting, tile, brick and finishing are coming together for the new Aldevron Tower connected to Sudro Hall on the NDSU campus.

The 74,000 sq. ft., six-story building will be filled with student activity, opening in the Spring 2020 semester.

Faculty, equipment and furnishings will move into the space by the end of 2019 and classes in the new facility begin January 13, 2020. Official opening ceremonies will be held later in the spring.

The new building includes shared interprofessional learning space for interdisciplinary education. The focus will be on team-based education, working in conjunction with all health care disciplines, just as students will do in health care settings when they graduate.

The privately-funded building will provide more hands-on learning spaces for students in pharmacy, nursing, respiratory care, medical lab sciences, radiologic sciences and public health.

The Tower also includes more student-friendly spaces such as open study spaces, huddle rooms and conference rooms.

“It will give a much needed technological and facility update that provides more of a team-based care setting, which is in high demand,” said pharmacy student Sabrina Wolfe of the new building. “This teaches us to see a care plan from a different point of view and fosters critical thinking.” 

 By the numbers

  • Multi-bed Skills Lab, currently 827 sq. ft. in Sudro Hall increases to 1,450 sq. ft. in Aldevron Tower
  • An additional 1,629 sq. ft. Skills Classroom in Aldevron Tower
  • Current Simulation Suite of 1,071 sq. ft. increases to 3,971 sq. ft. in Aldevron Tower
  • Interprofessional Assessment Lab of 1,014 sq. ft. increases to 3,268 sq. ft. in Aldevron Tower
  • Additional space and program commitments will allow NDSU to graduate more than 200 nurses each year, compared with 64 graduates per year four years ago
  • New Concept Pharmacy and Instructional Laboratory doubles in size from 2,783 to 5,561 sq. ft in Aldevron Tower
  • Current Sudro Hall facilities comprise 60,323 sq. ft.
  • The addition of Aldevron Tower to Sudro Hall provides a combined 134,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the-art facilities to help educate the next generation of health care professionals

New NDPhA Concept Pharmacy doubles lab size

The new North Dakota Pharmacists Association Concept Pharmacy and Instructional Laboratory comprises the entire fourth floor of Aldevron Tower. This state-of-the-art Concept Pharmacy is made possible by a half-million-dollar contribution from NDPhA members. The space includes community and institutional practice areas, simulated sterile and non-sterile compounding laboratories, access to patient exam rooms for medication therapy management, telepharmacy and much more.

Pharmacy students will have the opportunity to use the latest advances in technology including high fidelity simulators, telepharmacy/telehealth delivery to medically underserved rural communities, and teaching students how to work together as a healthcare team with other health professionals via interprofessional team-based care.

For nursing and interdisciplinary education, the Simulation Suite and Multi-bed Skills Lab on second floor includes a pediatric patient room, trauma bay and birthing suite, medical/surgical patient room, home health simulation lab, nurses station, record and playback options in debriefing rooms to help students learn, and other state-of-the-art features. Naming opportunities for donors are available for the Simulation Suite.

Focus on interdisciplinary education

The third floor of Aldevron Tower includes 10 fully-equipped patient rooms for assessment and interdisciplinary education.

“The combination of technology, facilities and exceptional faculty will result in students learning to be team-ready as well as practice-ready,” said Charles D. Peterson, dean of the College of Health Professions at NDSU.

According to the ND Workforce Intelligence Network, there will be nearly 20,000 projected total openings in healthcare practitioners and technical fields in North Dakota by 2026, a 17.8% increase from 2016.

“This facility is about providing our students with the highest quality education possible so that when they graduate they will not only succeed but they will be considered among the best trained health professionals in the country,” said Peterson. “This facility is about serving our citizens by providing a future healthcare workforce that meets the needs of North Dakota, the region, and nation.”

The $28-million privately funded building and renovation are part of a comprehensive project to also expand research capacity within Sudro Hall to conduct research that improves health, including discovering new drugs and treatment strategies for diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, obesity and other topics.

NDSU National Pharmacy Advisory Board Member and alumnus John Mortensen considers the building project vital to continued program success. “It’s progressive. It shows innovation. It will help keep and attract outstanding professors. The students are going to be excited about having state-of-the-art classrooms and labs,” said Mortensen.

With the addition of Aldevron Tower connected to Sudro Hall, all Health Professions programs now spread over four buildings on and off campus will be in a single location.

Here’s what you’ll find in the new Aldevron Tower next year:

  • First floor – NDSU School of Nursing offices, Thrifty White Student Lounge, Distance Seminar Room
  • Second floor - Simulation Suite and Multi-bed Skills Lab
  • Third floor - Interprofessional Assessment Suite and Multi-purpose Skills Lab
  • Fourth floor - North Dakota Pharmacists Association Concept Pharmacy and Instructional Laboratory
  • Fifth floor – NDSU School of Nursing administration and faculty offices
  • Sixth floor – NDSU Department of Public Health administration and faculty offices
  • All floors – student study areas and huddle rooms

The College of Health Professions continues to seek pledge commitments to complete the Sudro Hall renovation project to foster pharmaceutical sciences research and student opportunities. Naming opportunities within the Aldevron Tower also are available. Contact Jason.Eagle@ndsualumni.com for more information.

With an enrollment of more than 2,000 students, the NDSU College of Health Professions prepares future professionals for careers in pharmacy, nursing, medical laboratory science, radiologic technology, general/vascular sonography, echocardiography, respiratory care, health services, public health and pharmaceutical sciences research.

 

 

 

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