A New Era in Health Education for South Florida

University of Miami dedicates the M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies

Coral Gables, Fla. - The University of Miami will dedicate the M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies, a world-class facility designed for 21st-century nursing and health science education, on February 15 at 5:00 p.m. The Schwartz Center is located in the heart of the University’s Coral Gables campus at 5030 Brunson Drive.

“The Schwartz Center is a vital asset for our South Florida Community,” said Nilda P. Peragallo, Dr.P.H., R.N., F.A.A.N., Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. “This state-of-the-art facility will advance our mission to educate expert, compassionate health care providers and enable nurse scientists on our faculty to pursue research investigations that will have a direct impact on improving the quality of patient care.”

The $20 million facility has been financed by private donations from more than 750 corporations, foundations, and individuals including students and alumni from South Florida and across the nation. The building is named in honor of M. Christine Schwartz, a nurse and nurse educator from Chicago, whose husband Ted made a donation of $5 million to the school in honor of the couple’s twentieth wedding anniversary.

“This new building has powerful potential to prepare highly educated health care professionals with a broad range of expertise,” said Christine Schwartz. “I am thrilled to see it become a reality.”

The 53,000 square foot Jerusalem stone and stucco facility features leading-edge classrooms, seminar rooms, computer labs, conference areas, faculty offices, informal meetings spaces, and the International Academy for Clinical Simulation and Research—one of the first facilities in the nation to utilize the vast potential of simulation technology to build students’ clinical skills and improve patient safety. “Smart” technology throughout the building incorporates an array of communication, instructional, and web-based capabilities, allowing for interactivity among educational spaces on-site and around the globe.

“The University of Miami has a distinguished tradition of nursing education and an enduring commitment to quality health education and research,” said Donna E. Shalala, University of Miami President and the nation’s longest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services. ”As our nation’s frontline caregivers, nurses are vital members of the health care teams required for the delivery of quality patient care today. As researchers, nurse scientists play a central role in solving the critical issues we face in our increasingly complex health care system.”

Established in 1948 as South Florida’s first collegiate nursing program, the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami has a distinguished tradition of preparing nurses to provide compassionate, quality care to local, national and international communities. Nursing students at the undergraduate and graduate levels are educated by renowned scholars and exposed to a broad range of clinical experiences and cutting-edge research. In February 2005, the School expanded its program offerings to include the University of Miami’s Health Science program and changed its name to the School of Nursing and Health Studies. The expanded curriculum includes programs leading toward the B.S.N., M.S.N., and Ph.D. degrees as well as the B.S. in Health Science degree. For more information, visit www.miami.edu/sonhs.

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Media contact:
Bárbara Gutiérrez
bgutierrez@miami.edu
305-284-5500