March 25, 2022
Hartnell College’s new Center for Nursing & Health Sciences, with partnership support from Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (SVMHS), opened Jan. 24, 2022, instantly transforming the educational experience for health care students.
Nursing, respiratory care, emergency medical technician and related programs have
long flourished at Hartnell, earning repeated accreditation and top state and national
rankings, but the new 24,000-square-foot center is undeniably a game-changer. It consolidates
teaching locations that were scattered around the Main Campus while adding the latest
in facilities to simulate real-world experiences for students. 
“When designing the building, we wanted engagement,” said Dr. Debra Kaczmar, dean of nursing and health sciences, “because we know that students who are here together and who have more opportunities to work together are more successful.”
The two-story building includes large, adaptable classrooms with simulation “patients,” a clinical lab that replicates a hospital care center and an immersive-experience room that includes projected and simulated video images, sounds and even smells, such as vehicle exhaust for the scene of a vehicle crash. “I feel like we’re able to come together, and it’s bigger, and we have simulation dummies and we have computers and monitors so we’ll know how to act in a real-life scenario,” said vocational nursing student Cecilia Ruano. A $3 million gift from SVMHS has helped equip the building and support faculty hiring, which along with the larger room will allow Hartnell to accept about 10 percent more students into its highly selective and diverse clinical programs.