- April 24, 2024
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Nursing faculty at DSC Flagler/Palm Coast Campus pose in a simulation room at the new nursing center. Photo by Brent Woronoff
DSC and city official cut the ribbon the Flagler/Palm Coast Campus' new nursing center. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Officials get ready to cut the ribbon on the new nursing center at the DSC Flagler/Palm Coast Campus. Photo by Brent Woronoff
DSC School of Nursing Chair Amy Szoka stands by a patient simulator at DSC Flagler/Palm Coast Campus' new nursing center. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Next week, with the beginning of the 2021 fall semester, nursing students at the Daytona State College Flagler/Palm Coast Campus will be able to take full advantage of their new facility.
DSC officials cut the ribbon on the new nursing center at the Flagler/Palm Coast campus at a ceremony Thursday, Aug. 19. The ribbon stretched across the amphitheater. Dr. Randy Howard, DSC’s Board of Trustees Chair had the honor of slicing the ribbon, officially opening the new center.
The $4.2 million project refurbished the buildings that previously provided classroom space and supported the amphitheater, said Dr. Amy Szoka, DSC’s School of Nursing chair.
"We completely transformed this space so that it is all dedicated to nursing," Szoka said. "We have nursing classrooms, faculty offices, simulation, lab space, conference room and student center so that they can spend their entire day right here.”
Now a (nursing) student who lives in Palm Coast can come to school in Palm Coast and then go to work in Palm Coast.”
AMY SZOKA, DSC School of Nursing Chair
The associate degree nursing program at the Flagler campus began in 1999 with 30 students. Now there are about 100 students in the program locally. The new facility will increase the program’s capacity to 120.
“In 2018 we felt the need to expand the nursing presence here in Palm Coast, so little by little we expanded,” Szoka said. “Now a student who lives in Palm Coast can come to school in Palm Coast and then go to work in Palm Coast.”
Sozka said the expanded program will help address a critical need for more nurses. She said most of the students in the nursing programs across DSC’s campuses will have a job waiting for them when they graduate.
“At Daytona State College we’re all about providing career paths for the local community,” Howard said. “With the projection of the number of nurses that are going to be needed across the nation and particularly in Flagler/Palm Coast, this facility will be a great boost to make sure there’s an adequate supply for the local community.”
There are about 600 students currently enrolled in DSC’s nursing programs across the school’s campuses, Szoka said. Students will now be able to complete their associate degrees in nursing entirely at the Flagler/Palm Coast campus and transition into the college’s bachelor of science program.
Sozka said DSC has also had conversations about a partnership with UNF MedNexus.
“Because we have our simulation center here there may be an opportunity to share that with people coming into that MedNex development,” she said.
