LAS CRUCES, NM – New Mexico State University broke ground on two construction projects that support the College of Health, Education and Social Transformation’s mission to grow the allied health workforce and address disparities in the region.
The work includes an expansion of O’Donnell Hall that will add more than 15,000 square feet of new space to the existing building, originally constructed in 1968. The expansion will house the departments of Kinesiology and Communication Disorders and will feature state-of-the-art multidisciplinary laboratories and an anatomy classroom.
Additional renovations will also be made to the Health and Social Services Building, built in 2002. The recently completed Nursing Skills and Simulation Center expansion and modernization will undergo further work to create a new operating room simulation space for the School of Nursing’s anesthesiology program.
The estimated cost of the combined projects is US$18.8 million. In November 2022, New Mexico voters approved a general obligation bond that provided US$15.5 million for the projects. Earlier that year, the New Mexico Legislature and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham respectively passed and signed House Bill 153, which appropriated and authorized the funding.
During a groundbreaking ceremony last Friday outside O’Donnell Hall, Phillip Post, interim dean of the HEST faculty, said the projects had been in development since 2017 and entering the construction phase marked a pivotal moment for the university.
“This state investment will enhance our ability to prepare nursing, communication disorders and kinesiology students with state-of-the-art equipment and spaces that reflect real-world health care environments,” Post said.
Plans also call for renovating a portion of the first floor of O’Donnell Hall to accommodate an expansion of the Papen-Aprendamos Autism Diagnostic Center and house the Edgar R. Garrett Speech and Hearing Center, giving students and faculty additional hands-on opportunities to engage and support families and individuals throughout Las Cruces and southern New Mexico.
The Speech and Hearing Center has provided speech-language pathology services to people of all ages for more than 60 years. It is operated by the Department of Communication Disorders, graduate students and a team of licensed and certified speech-language pathologists.
The Autism Diagnostic Center opened its doors in 2019. It is the only center in southern New Mexico that provides evaluations for medical diagnosis of autism and offers evidence-based parent training and support groups for individuals with autism and their families. The center is staffed by an interdisciplinary team with expertise in autism, differential diagnosis and comorbid conditions across all age ranges.
The O’Donnell Hall expansion will also house a state-of-the-art anatomy classroom equipped with anatomy tables and new research space for the departments of Kinesiology and Communication Disorders.
Sylvia Y. Acosta, executive director of the NMSU Foundation and NMSU alumna, said the projects represent growth and investment in the Las Cruces community.
The Health and Social Services Building renovations will directly address New Mexico’s nursing shortage. The state has a shortage of more than 6,200 registered nurses and clinical nurse specialists. Plans include the creation of a dedicated operating room for NMSU’s nurse anesthesia program, freeing up classrooms currently used as lab space.
