UT Tyler Breaks Ground on Braithwaite Building Expansion to Grow Nursing Program

April 5, 2023

UT Tyler Breaks Ground on Braithwaite Building Expansion to Grow Nursing Program

Office of Marketing and Communications

Follow @UTTyler Tweet

April 5, 2023

Liz Wingfield
Health Affairs Marketing and Communications Specialist
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.877.7075

The University of Texas at Tyler hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the David G. and Jacqueline M. Braithwaite Building, home of the university’s School of Nursing.

In 2019, the UT System Board of Regents allocated $35 million for the addition and partial renovation of the building. This expansion will increase the simulation and skill lab spaces and the number of student spaces, allowing the school to accommodate a larger number of students as the nursing program continues to grow.

“UT Tyler’s School of Nursing plays a leadership role in the health of East Texas,” said Kevin P. Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents. “As we all work together to increase access to health care professionals who wish to learn, train, and ultimately remain here to work, producing more nurses is fully integrated into that plan. The regents were proud to invest in this effort.”

“Our nationally recognized nursing program attracts students from all over Texas,” said President Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, FACP. “The expansion and renovations are necessary for us to accommodate our vastly growing nursing program, and I am grateful to the UT System and the East Texas community for their ongoing support.”

The first floor of the 47,000-square-foot addition will be dedicated to simulation and skills labs. Upon completion, the school will have more than three times its current capacity for simulation. These spaces will include pods designed for medical surgical acute care, intensive care, pediatrics, mother-baby and home health. It will expand the number of debriefing rooms, a critical component of simulations, from two to six.

Additionally, it will create an open lab where students can practice and prepare for clinicals. The school has plans to eventually use the second floor for collaborative research and community engagement.

“We are very grateful for the support provided for this addition,” said Barbara Haas, PhD, RN, School of Nursing dean. “The School of Nursing mission statement notes that we are ‘learner-centered,’ and this is evident in the priorities in this building design. Every decision first considered the student experience and perspective. We are so excited for our students to see the beautiful spaces that have been designed to support them as they pursue their nursing degree.”

With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs to 10,000 students. UT Tyler recently merged with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (now known as UT Tyler Health Science Center). Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center (HSC) and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.