Two of Dowagiac’s most important institutions are partnering to help evolve the education of the area’s next generation of nurses.

On Monday, representatives with Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital met with Southwestern Michigan College President David Mathews to announce that Borgess will donate $10,000 to the community college’s planned expansion of its nursing facility. The healthcare organization is among the many institutions and private individuals who have contributed to the college in recent weeks, which is raising around $2.6 million from the community to help fund its estimated $9.6 million worth of renovations to its nursing building.

The project, which is expected to begin later this summer, will more than double the footprint of the existing nursing building, and will include expansive updates to the program’s technology, including the construction of four labs that will allow students to simulate common scenarios they will experience on the job, such as assisting with childbirth.

The larger building footprint should allow the college to admit up to 56 into its nursing program every semester, up from 40 students it currently admits. The college should also be able to offer an additional healthcare-related program, such as occupational therapy, using the additional space, Mathews said.

“We feel it is very important for the community to have access to the latest facilities and technologies to prepare nursing students for the job market,” said John Ryder, COO of Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital. “We [Borgess-Lee] have a need for qualified nurses, so we will benefit from the college’s expansion as well.”

SMC graduates comprise a large number of the Dowagiac hospital’s nursing staff, Ryder said. In fact, a majority of its nursing leadership are products of SMC’s program, said Jan Troeger, the chief nursing officer with Borgess-Lee.

“We will take almost any SMC graduate we can get,” Troeger said. “We know the high caliber of nursing graduates that are produced here.”

With both institutions calling Dowagiac home, the partnership between Borgess-Lee and SMC is natural, the hospital leaders said.

Borgess’ donation is especially meaningful to Mathews. Besides being born at what was then Lee Memorial Hospital, the college president’s late wife, Janet, worked as a nurse educator at Borgess-Lee, and his father, SMC founding board member Fred Mathews, helped the hospital with several fundraising drives over the years.

“Just like how I cannot imagine what Dowagiac would be like without Southwestern Michigan College, I cannot imagine what Dowagiac would be like without our local hospital,” Mathews said.

The Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees is expected to vote on a contractor to handle the construction work during a special meeting Friday, July 21. Mathews expects for construction to begin soon afterwards.

In lieu of an official groundbreaking, the college will host a ceremony celebrating the construction from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at Dowagiac campus. Several former nursing students, as well as Michigan Budget Director Al Pscholka, are expected to speak during the event.

Fundraising for the nursing expansion is still ongoing. People and organizations interested in contributing are asked to contact Eileen Toney, director of the SMC Foundation, at (800) 456-8675, ext. 1301, or at foundation@swmich.edu.