Above from left: Daniel Cross, Rankin County Supervisor District 2; President Dr. Stephen Vacik; Rankin County Board of Supervisors President Steve Gaines, Rankin County Supervisor District 4; Rankin County Sen. Josh Harkins; Trustee Dana Stringer; Rankin County Rep. Lee Yancy; Rankin County Rep. Brent Powell; Jared Morrison, Rankin County Supervisor District 1; Craig Slay, Rankin Board of Supervisors Outside Counsel; Rankin County Rep. Gene Newman; Brad Calhoun, Rankin County Supervisor District 3; Trustee Homer Burns; Rankin First President Todd Troxler; Trustee Larry Swales, Rankin County Chancery Clerk; Trustee Jimmy Morton; Irl Dean Rhodes, Rankin County Leader; Michael Guest, Mississippi Congressman District 3; Rankin County Sen. Dean Kirby, Mississippi Senate President Pro Tempore.
hosted a “thank you” luncheon on April 24 for members of the Legislature, Rankin County Supervisors and others in recognition of the future Health Sciences Complex to be built on the Rankin Campus.
Legislators appropriated $24 million over two sessions and Rankin County Supervisors have also committed to assisting with the funding.
The luncheon was held outside near the site where the new building will be located on the Rankin Campus. It will share a parking lot with the Muse Center.
“This is a big deal for us,” said President Dr. Stephen Vacik. “When I got to , one of the first things I saw was that we had to do something about our nursing and allied health programs. Now we can move forward and we can help change lives.”
The Health Sciences Complex will be 160,000 square feet and four floors, with three to be immediately occupied when it is built and the fourth to house future growth. It will consolidate programs now housed at the Career Technical Education Building on Greenfield Road in Pearl and the Nursing/Allied Health Center in Jackson, which opened in 1982. The Vicksburg-Warren Campus programs will continue.
“We’ve been very fortunate to be in a facility we’re in right now but it’s no longer adequate to fit the needs,” Dr. Vacik said. “With our health corridor continuing to move further and further to this area, this is the place to be.”
Above: A rendering of the new Health Sciences Complex on the Rankin Campus.
Above: House Speaker Philip Gunn, left, President Dr. Stephen Vacik
Above: Congressman Michael Guest, left, Board of Trustees President Paul Breazeale
Above: President Dr. Stephen Vacik, Rep. Gene Newman, Sen. Dean Kirby, Trustee Larry Swales, Rankin County Chancery Clerk.
Above: Dean of Health Sciences Kathy Elliott, left, and Dean of Nursing Wendy Lingle with the rendering of the new Health Sciences Complex to be built on the Rankin Campus