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USC Beaufort has announced a significant step toward construction of a facility to house a four-year baccalaureate nursing program with the help of two community grants totaling $1.2 million.
The campus also has appointed Susan C. Williams as the nursing program's new director. Williams has worked as a consultant to develop USC Beaufort's nursing program since 2005. Before joining USC Beaufort, she was the executive director and CEO of Outer Cape Health Services Inc. in Orleans, Mass.
Williams' nursing career includes a background in both university and hospital settings. She is a public speaker, published author, and a sought-after consultant. Her first job in her new position will be to solicit additional funding from the community to reach the $1.5 million goal to begin construction of the new facility.
A $750,000 grant from Hilton Head Regional Medical Center and a $450,000 grant from the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry will cover the majority of the construction costs for a new nursing facility at the South Campus in Bluffton.
"The need in our community, in our region, is great," said Jane Upshaw, USC Beaufort chancellor. "We are so thankful that these two organizations came forward to join with us in our vision to enhance health care in our region. Working together we can make a significant impact on a critical regional need."
The nursing BSN, the first program in the campus' proposed Health Professions Department, will begin enrolling pre-nursing students this fall. The four-year program will be housed on second floor of the Science and Technology Building, when that now-vacant space is finished with dedicated nursing simulation classrooms, a technology resource room, and faculty offices through construction gifts.
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