A wall breaking instead of a groundbreaking

Jefferson College of Health Sciences, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Radford University hosted a “wall breaking” ceremony recently for the new Virginia Intercollegiate Anatomy Lab at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital.

The lab, to be located on the eighth floor of the hospital in downtown Roanoke, will house 15 anatomy tables.

Since the $2.5 million project is being constructed in an existing building, there was no ground to break. In place of that symbolic gesture, officials celebrated with a wall breaking ceremony. The hospital space is being rebuilt to accommodate the needs of the new anatomy lab. Jefferson College and Radford’s doctorate of physical therapy program is housed in the hospital now.

“This ceremony marks a key step in the collaborations between our academic institutions,” Nathaniel L. Bishop, president of Jefferson College of Health Sciences, said in a statement. “Not only do all of our students learn how to work together in the shared space, but it makes good economic sense to build one dedicated lab for all three schools rather than three separate facilities.”

When complete, the shared space will allow health-care students to work collaboratively in clinical settings before entering their professions. It’s scheduled to be done by late spring 2015. 

Jefferson College of Health Sciences, a private higher education institution, is an affiliate of Carilion Clinic.

Radford University is a public university with nearly 10,000 students located about 45 minutes from downtown Roanoke in Radford.