Ivy Tech Sellersburg gets $3.1M CARES Act grant to rehab health sciences facility

The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·2 min read

Jun. 4—SELLERSBURG — Ivy Tech Community College Sellersburg, in partnership with River Hills Economic Development District, is being granted a $3.1 million award in support of their efforts to train professionals for Southern Indiana's growing health care workforce.

The Recovery Assistance Grant is provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. It will be matched with $771,130 in campus investment.

The project will focus on addressing facility issues in the Health Sciences Wing of Pfau Hall on the Ivy Tech Sellersburg campus and is part of a comprehensive Master Plan developed for the building in 2019. It encompasses laboratories, classrooms and support resources dedicated to both Health Sciences and Nursing programs.

In addition to renovating about 18,000 square feet, the project includes the creation of a new Mock Hospital Lab, and new Dental Lab, and labs for Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Assisting, Medical Lab Technology, Respiratory Care and Therapeutic Massage.

"We are committed to building and advancing the health care workforce in our community. The EDA construction grant will allow us to transform the Health Sciences Wing of Pfau Hall, dramatically improving the laboratories, classrooms, and program resources supporting our Nursing and Health Sciences students and faculty," said Dr. Travis Haire, chancellor of the Sellersburg campus. "Importantly, it also represents the first step in actualizing the comprehensive Pfau Hall Master Plan. We believe this vital EDA construction grant will spur further investment in our efforts to address longstanding Pfau Hall facility issues, impacting thousands of students each year."

Ivy Tech partnered with River Hills Economic Development District to submit the funding application to the EDA. The college's application for funding was supported by Indiana's Ninth District Congressman Trey Hollingsworth.

"Now more than ever, we must bolster our health care workforce and invest in quality training programs," Hollingsworth said. "I was proud to support emergency funding in the CARES Act and am excited to see a portion of it go to a local institution."

"We know that Ivy Tech students and regional employers are ready for this project to get going. These federal dollars will have a positive impact on our community for generations as Ivy Tech continues to prepare the future workforce," said Cory Cochran, executive director of River Hills.

The Ivy Tech project is funded under the CARES Act, which provided EDA with $1.5 billion for economic assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau's flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.