Earlier this year, leaders with Southwestern Michigan College asked the community to help support its $9.6 million transformation of its nursing facility on its Dowagiac campus.

The college is currently in the midst of making extensive improvements to its current nursing building, which was constructed in 1970. The updated building will more than double the footprint of the existing structure, and will include eight new classrooms and four state-of-the-art simulation labs, where students can work with robots capable of simulating childbirth and other common procedures.

According to SMC President David Mathews, “to have four of these labs will give us twice as many labs as most community colleges in the state of Michigan.”

The new facility will also follow suit with recent renovations made to the college’s O’Leary and Daugherty buildings, including building more windows to increase the amount of natural light inside the facility as well as the construction of lounge areas that are destined to facilitate interaction between students and faculty outside the classroom.

With the added space, the college expects to admit a greater amount of students into its nursing program each semester, from 40 to 60.

The souped up technology the college plans to install as part of the improvements will also help SMC’s renowned program remain competitive with other community college programs, but also nursing classes at four-year universities.

In order to fulfill these aspirations, the college will use $3 million worth of funds it has previously set aside for the project, and will use $4 million worth of state grants as well.

To cover the remaining costs, the college is looking to raise $2.6 million from philanthropists and institutions around the area.

So far, the community has responded enthusiastically to the campaign.

Several organizations and individuals have stepped up throughout the last few weeks to donate to the project, including Lake Michigan Mailers, which donated $10,000; Michigan Gateway Community Foundation, which chipped in another $10,000; and the Lakeland Community Wellness Endowment, which is contributing $50,000 in two installments.

We are sure that many more donations are sure to come to push SMC over the edge for the campaign.

We are delighted to see the support the college is receiving so far. As we stated in an editorial when the college first announced the campaign, we believe the expansion of nursing facility and program will be a great asset for the area, especially with the number of quality healthcare institutions that call Dowagiac, Niles and southwest Michigan home.

We hope to see more donations flood in for the project, and we cannot wait to see the nursing building once its finished.

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of General Manager Ambrosia Neldon and editors Scott Novak and Ted Yoakum.