BCIT Health Sciences Centre set to open in September

BURNABY – Students studying nursing, MRI diagnostics and other health-care roles will soon be learning in a new, innovative space, with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Health Sciences Centre set to open in September.
The new space will support students in 32 health-care programs, and will feature classrooms that enhance learning by simulating real health-care settings.
The centre will enhance the learning and study experience for BCIT’s more than 6,000 part- and full-time health science students, including those pursuing careers in diagnostic medical imaging and medical laboratory science. It features simulations that replicate hospital, clinical and laboratory workflows, and includes living laboratories, simulation labs and multipurpose rooms.
The Province has invested $66.6 million into the $88.2-million project.
The four-storey, 10,355 square-metre (111,460 square feet), low carbon emission building, including parkade, is targeting WELL Gold certification, aligned with the Province’s CleanBC objectives of reducing commercial carbon footprints. The WELL certification dictates that owners and occupants can feel confident that their spaces are purpose-built to enhance human health and well-being.
In Budget 2021, the Province committed to invest $96 million over three years to support expanded post-secondary education and training capacity for the health workforce. The new space in BCIT supports the Province’s work to provide educational opportunities for students to enter the health system, including training and hiring health-care workers by expanding seats provincewide for allied health, nursing and health-care assistant training.