After a March 2011 groundbreaking, the massive structure located off of Highway 6 and Rock Prairie Road is functioning as Scott & White’s new hospital.
The complex opened for operations Aug. 19 and includes a five-floor hospital building and medical offices offering numerous services from cancer and neuroscience centers to surgical and rehabilitation services. The complex will not only be able to meet the healthcare needs of Brazos County, but provide a learning opportunity for Blinn and Texas A&M students.
Jason Jennings, Class of 1995 and chief executive officer of the Scott & White College Station region, said the hospital “embraces” its relationship with Texas A&M and plans to provide college students with volunteer opportunities and part-time jobs. The volunteer opportunities will not be limited to pre-nursing or pre-medical students.
“Health care goes beyond nursing or physicians,” Jennings said. “Anybody who might be pre-health or anyone who just wants to give back to the community will definitely be welcome here.”
Jennings said the hospital has already employed students for part-time work. Students can work in administrative areas or as concierge associates, escorting people through the hospital and acting as a resource for the family members or friends of the patient.
“It’s just an extra extension, just like a concierge [in a] hotel,” Jennings said. “We try to employ the hospital to create a more home-feel environment, and we have several college students who are doing a great job of that.”
The recent merger of the Texas A&M Health Science Center into the Texas A&M University system brought with it more students requiring more training sites. The hospital will be available for students to train in their
clinical rotations.
“I know the nursing school is excited about having more opportunities, because they’re wanting to grow the numbers they can seat to a class,” said Jasmine Cochran, an Intensive Care Unit nurse at the new hospital .
ICU nurse Julie Roman said more clinical rotation sites will help students accrue more clinical hours.
“Students will be able to come through and follow nurses and doctors and be able to see what they are studying in action,” Roman said. “Having another location will just help accommodate and give students
more exposure.”
Roman said before the hospital’s official opening, Blinn and Texas A&M nursing students at the Health Science Center were able to work with hospital staff and practice procedural code simulations in the hospital. The codes ranged from enacting patient scenarios to emergency situations.
“The purpose is to make sure that we have what we need to run efficiently,” Roman said. “The students could come in and not only could they witness and learn from that, but actually participate.”
Jennings said Scott & White has been a presence in Brazos County since the mid-1980s. With the Brazos County population continuing to grow, Jennings said the hospital would complete the “last step of care” for Scott and White facilities in the area.
“Scott & White is known for being a teaching and research institution,” Cochran said. “I think it will open a lot of
great opportunities.”