BUIES CREEK, North Carolina—Built in 1925 with an addition completed in 1956, the Carrie Rich Memorial building was home to the Campbell University library for more than 80 years. But with the library’s move to Wiggins Hall, now Wiggins Memorial Library, and the addition of a physician assistant (PA) program, the building is currently being transformed into a new medical teaching facility.
Campbell Physical Plant Director David Martin reports the first floor of the building, a 9,200 square-foot space, will contain six offices, a 40-seat lecture hall, a physical diagnosis suite, four video enabled practice examination rooms, three study rooms, one waiting room, a large student lounge and two group study rooms. The interior of the building is also receiving new coats of paint, carpet, ceilings, lighting and furniture.
The cost of the renovation is approximately $450,000 and is expected to be completed by Dec. 23, 2010.
“It will be a state-of-the-art environment for the PA program,” said Martin. “We expect nothing less for our students.”
Campbell University announced it would be adding a master’s program in Physician Assistant Practice (MPAP) in 2008.
The PA degree was developed as a response to the growing need for cost-effective, accessible healthcare. With fewer medical students pursuing careers in internal medicine, the program helps fill the gap created by a shortage of primary care physicians. The two-year degreewill complement the University’s other health science programs under the College of Pharmacy &Health Sciences including the Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Science in Clinical Research and Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciencesdegrees.
Photo Copy: The rotunda of the Carrie Rich Building is part of the renovation as the future home of the Physician Assistant program.
Former library gets makeover for Physician Assistant program