Roane State Community College

July 28, 2023

Roane State Community College and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Knoxville will host a groundbreaking celebration for the new Knox Regional Health Science Education Center on August 1, 2023.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET, with attendees encouraged to arrive by 9:45 a.m. to allow adequate time for parking and traveling to the build site. The facility will be located on the newly named Covenant Health Campus at 9575 Sherrill Boulevard in Knoxville.

Parking will be available at Parkwest Medical Center, directly across the street from the new campus property. Visitors should access the designated parking lot via Sherrill Boulevard to Park West Boulevard. Roane State’s shuttle service will transport attendees from the parking area to the site. Please follow all directional signage for parking and shuttle pick up/drop off.

The new facility will replace Roane State’s current Knox County Center for Health Sciences on Hayfield Road. Construction is set to begin later this summer.

Current Roane State programs to be housed in the new 130,000-square-foot center will include nursing, EMS, polysomnography, and respiratory therapy, with the college planning to add new programs such as cardiovascular technology, healthcare administration, and public health.

TCAT Knoxville’s health science programs will also be offered under the same roof, including dental assisting, phlebotomy, and surgical technology.

The first level of the new building will accommodate spaces shared by Roane State and TCAT Knoxville, such as student services, continuing education, adjunct faculty offices, and a more than 10,000-square-foot simulation center.

The simulation center will include an emergency department, ambulance bay, and electronic medical record workstation as well as operating, ICU, medication, and decontamination rooms. Multipurpose rooms that can be set up as an apartment, exam room or surgical suite will help immerse students in real-world scenarios that elevate their training and sharpen skills.

The project’s preliminary timeline has the Knox Regional Health Science Education Center set to open for students in the fall of 2025.

Media are invited to attend the groundbreaking event. Interviews with representatives from Roane State, TCAT Knoxville and other involved parties will be available immediately following the ceremony. Additional supporting material, such as video and photo renderings of the new facility, will be made available.

For additional information on this project or the upcoming event, please contact Sarah Self, RSCC Director of Marketing and Public Relations, by emailing selfs1@roanestate.edu.

Project Background:
Governor Bill Lee’s 2022-23 budget included $67,500,000 in state funding for the Knox Regional Health Science Education Center.

The total estimated dollar amount for the project is $75,000,000, which includes previous funding of $1,000,000 appropriated in fiscal year 2021-22 for the preliminary design phase.

Roane State needs at least $7,500,000 in private philanthropy to complete the project and sustain funding for the students who will attend. The college’s non-profit Roane State Foundation is kicking off a capital fundraising campaign to meet that goal.

Most recently, Covenant Health was recognized for its record-breaking gift of land across from Parkwest Medical Center where the new facility will be built. The 10-acre parcel is the largest single gift in Roane State history.

Additional details on the fundraising efforts are forthcoming from Roane State Foundation. 

BarberMcMurry Architects, LLC, was approved as the designer on the project in July of 2021. The design consultant for the simulation center is Lavallee Brensinger Architects. The general contractor on the project is Johnson & Galyon, Inc.