BUIES CREEK, North Carolina — Campbell University dedicated the Tracey F. Smith Hall of Nursing & Health Sciences and the Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing at a ceremonial ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
With a quick reset of scenery due to rain, the event was moved inside where dozens of Campbell faculty, students, and supporters mingled and toured the brand new building prior to a short program offering thanks and insight to the Smith and Wood families who generously gave their name and support to the building and nursing program.
“It is a compelling vision that makes this day and these events,” said Campbell University President Brad Creed. “It’s not just a vision for Campbell University to be a great university or to have robust health sciences programs. It’s not a vision to have a beautiful building or programs in nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, or public health. It’s a compelling vision to alleviate suffering, to make human life better, to wipe tears that are filled with grief. It is a vision for human flourishing and to contribute to the common good. That is why Campbell University is here.”
Directors from each of the three programs that share residence in the building spoke on how they are working together to make a difference in the community and their professions while working collaboratively. Smith Hall has already been host to its first interprofessional education (IPE) event, which brought students from the medicine, nursing, pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, physical therapy, and physician assistant programs together to solve a case study.
“It is a gift to leave work knowing you have intervened for physical, emotional or spiritual pain, detected a complication before it became a negative outcome, advocated for those who cannot, comforted the dying, offered hope and support for a new mom, prevented an error, successfully started an IV on an eight-month old, and laughed with your colleagues,” said Nursing Director Nancy Duffy.
“Notice you didn’t hear anything about blood and guts, bed pans, or Dr. Dreamy because nursing is so much more than that. I am sure that Tracey Smith and Catherine Wood would agree with me that nursing is more than a job. It is an opportunity to make a greater change in someone’s life for the better.”
Ground broke on the $22 million, 72,000 square-foot building in March 2015. The Woods and Smiths served as co-chairs of the fundraising campaign for the new facility and gave lead gifts to support the project. The building is located adjacent to the Leon Levine Hall of Medical Sciences located on Campbell’s Health Sciences Campus off U.S. 421, in Lillington, less than a mile west of the school’s main campus.
It sits on 3.2 acres of Campbell’s Health Science Campus and boasts 4 floors, 60 offices, 4 large classrooms, 12 small group study spaces, 10 objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) rooms, 8 major laboratory spaces including a neuro-pediatric lab, physical therapy reintegration lab, and exercise lab, and 7,000 square feet dedicated to research.
Tracey F. Smith is married to Henry Smith, a 1967 graduate of Campbell and a member of the Campbell Board of Trustees. He was the founding owner and president of Carolina Medical Products. The couple has one daughter, Hannah.
Catherine W. Wood graduated from Rex Hospital’s nursing school and obtained a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1989. She spent many years working as a staff nurse in orthopedics and neurology at Gaston Memorial Hospital. She is married to Luby Wood, a member of the Campbell University Foundation’s Board of Trustees and a former resident of Gastonia, North Carolina. He retired from Lowe’s Corporation and has managed a car wash chain and his family’s farming and land interests. The couple lives in Raleigh. – By Leah Whitt