Work starts on new health facilities at Walsall

The University of Wolverhampton is to create new state-of-the-art health lab facilities at its Walsall Campus.

Work has now started on extending and totally remodelling existing facilities in the Sister Dora Building, which is home to part of the University’s Institute of Health.

The development will see a two-storey extension added, creating new simulation labs and teaching rooms to cater for an increase in students on courses such as Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedic Science.

The building will be remodelled throughout with a series of multi-disciplinary lab spaces created for a range of settings and a collaboration area. The skills and simulation facilities will include several mock hospital ward rooms, mock bedsit and terraced house to practice in as well as using the latest technology with access to an anatomage table.

The facilities will enable students to practice skills in a safe environment with a fully enabled Panopto facility- which allows sessions to be filmed and played back and give a patient’s eye-view.

A selection of new, flexible teaching spaces will also be formed and the lobby refurbished.

The £4.8m project was designed by architects Broadway Malyan and Speller Metcalfe has been appointed as the main build contractor with Gleeds as project managers.

Work has started and the transformation of the current  building is set to be complete in time for the new academic year in September 2019 with the new extension delivered by November 2019.