The 63,000 square-foot Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center provides state-of-the-art learning resources for more than 1,000 students.
PARAMUS, N.J. – For its commitment to supporting economic development, preparing students for the workforce and impacting the region’s quality of life, Bergen Community College has earned a “New Good Neighbor Award” from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. The honor recognizes Bergen’s Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center and 13 other recent construction projects at New Jersey businesses, colleges and nonprofits that benefit the state. Bergen represents the only community college to earn the award this year.
“Community colleges respond to the needs of the residents they serve,” Bergen President Michael D. Redmond, Ph.D., said. “The region’s only Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center enables practice-based learning that prepares our graduates to enter the workforce and contribute to the overall health and wellness of Bergen County. We are proud of this recognition of our commitment to Bergen County by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.”
As part of the business association’s 58th annual installment of the awards program, the group honored representatives from each organization July 17 at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden. According to the association, the 14 construction projects recognized created 5,924 jobs and featured $720 million in capital investment.
Bergen’s $25.5 million Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center opened in 2016 as the College’s project through the voter-approved “Building Our Future Bond Act” referendum that delivered funds to New Jersey colleges for strategic infrastructure. A 63,000 square-foot state-of-the-art building, the facility features simulation laboratories and SMART classrooms to enhance the learning experience, preparing students with the advanced skills needed to succeed in today’s evolving healthcare labor market. A first floor, 24-chair dental hygiene clinic allows students to complete 600 hours of clinical practice and also provides the local community with a low-cost oral healthcare option.
With six hospitals and more than 70,000 jobs, healthcare represents Bergen County’s top workforce cluster. The College’s degree and certificate programs in fields such as diagnostic medical sonography, medical coding and billing specialist and nursing currently enroll more than 1,000 students and offer a direct pipeline to industry.
RSC Architects and Benjamin R. Harvey oversaw the design and construction of the facility. Bob Florio, of J B Dental Services, Inc., nominated Bergen for the New Good Neighbor Award.
The New Jersey Business & Industry Association, headquartered in Trenton and founded in 1910, provides information, services and advocacy to its member companies to build a more prosperous New Jersey. The group represents the nation’s largest statewide employer association – its members employ more than one million people.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 14,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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