BBBTV12 Serving Anderson, Roane, and Morgan Counties
Covenant Health to transfer land for Roane State’s Regional Health Science Center
Knoxville, Tenn. (January 24, 2023) – Leadership from Roane State Community College, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Knoxville and Covenant Health will meet on Friday, January 27, 2023, to celebrate a land donation that will help bring a state-of-the-art healthcare training facility to East Tennessee.
Announced in early 2022, the Knox Regional Health Science and Simulation Center will be built on land donated by Covenant Health, the region’s most comprehensive healthcare enterprise. Construction on the project is expected to begin later this year.
Representatives from Covenant Health, Roane State and TCAT Knoxville will be in attendance. Conceptual renderings of the new facility will also be on display.
The approximately 10-acre land parcel to be donated is located on Sherill Boulevard, across the street from Parkwest Medical Center.
BACKGROUND:
Governor Bill Lee’s 2022-23 budget proposal included a request for $67,500,000 in state funding for the Knox Regional Health Science and Simulation Center. The facility will enable instructors to provide comprehensive simulations of the work students will be doing when they graduate, in settings similar to clinics and hospitals.
The project had previously been approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), the governing body for both Roane State and TCAT Knoxville. It was then recommended by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) for inclusion in the budget request.
Roane State is expected to provide at least a $7,500,000 campus match. The total estimated dollar amount for the project is $75,000,000, which includes previous funding of $1,000,000 appropriated in fiscal year 2021-22 for the preliminary design phase.
The center is meant to replace Roane State’s current Knox County Center for Health Sciences, a 16,000-square-foot campus located at 132 Hayfield Road in West Knoxville. It will also be the new home of TCAT Knoxville’s health science programs.
As proposed, the Knox Regional Health Science and Simulation Center would have 130,000 square feet in total, with at least 11,000 square feet devoted to the simulation center.
