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Okanagan College just got provincial funding of $15.4 million to build a new Health Sciences Centre at the Kelowna location. The total cost is $18.9-million and Okanagan College is contributing $3.5 million to the project.
Construction on the project is scheduled for the summer of 2018 with a completion date estimated for early 2020.
"This isn't about expansion. Primarily this is about replacing aging facilities with new facilities and that will allow us to look at expansion but it's not primarily driving this project," said Jim Hamilton, president of Okanagan College.
The new building will open up 79 more spots for students in the health sciences field.
#OkanaganCollege receives $15.4M in provincial funding to construct new $18.9M Health Sciences Centre in #Kelowna @BCGovNews@Steve4Kelowna pic.twitter.com/hOGKudS3nU
— Okanagan College (@OkanaganCollege) March 21, 2017
"We know that there's huge demand for programs in health sciences and we could for example, probably double the number of nursing spots we have available and fill them without difficulty," said Hamilton.
But Hamilton said the cost of running the programs adds up and makes the program expansion a slow process.
"This is a huge step in the right direction," he said.
"We're taking an older building that has reached the end of it's life cycle and going to produce these fabulous facilities for the students, and for the staff and that in itself is a huge step in the right direction," he said.
The new, 2,800 square-metre facility will be located near the Laboratory Building.
It will provide various programs including practical nursing, pharmacy technician, human service worker and early childhood education.
The program is expected to open for enrollment by spring 2020.
The project will provide about 71 construction jobs and 47 jobs related to project management and engineering.
Jim Hamilton has been president of Okanagan College for 13 years.
He is the longest serving post-secondary president in the Province.
His current contract ends in 2019, one year before the Health Sciences Centre is scheduled to be completed.
"I'm here for a while and hopefully if I'm not the president when the building is open, at least maybe they'll invite me," joked Hamilton.
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