Bright blue fencing surrounds the future site of Morgan-Bailey Hall as workers progress with site prep and preliminary construction for the $33.4 million health sciences building.
The new addition housing Berry’s physician associate and nursing programs – with one floor of student housing – will be located on the corner opposite the Valhalla stadium complex. Completion is expected in summer 2025.
Work began within days of the March 22 groundbreaking ceremony featuring college officials, leadership donors, local medical professionals, faculty, staff and students. Despite a round of afternoon showers, enthusiasm for the project was high as President Steve Briggs encouraged everyone “to celebrate the promise of the new building, but more importantly applaud and commend the efforts of the many people who are making this possible.”
Among those recognized were the Atlanta sisters for whom the building is named: Audrey B. Morgan and the late Bobbie Bailey. Their foundation provided the lead gift of $6 million for the facility, the latest in a long line of Berry projects that have benefitted from the generosity of two women renowned for their philanthropy and business acumen.
Two additional gifts – $1 million from an anonymous Berry graduate and $2 million from the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation – were announced at the ceremony just days after news of a $2 million commitment from the Atrium Health Floyd-Polk Foundation. A subsequent commitment of $2.5 million from a longtime foundation partner brought the total raised to $31.3 million as of May 1.
Atrium Health Floyd President Kurt Stuenkel spoke of the foundation’s commitment to addressing pressing health care needs and disparities throughout the region. Berry’s forthcoming physician associate program, the first of its kind in Northwest Georgia, will emphasize rural health care, seeking to recruit future PAs with a specific interest in the region.
Partnerships with area health care facilities offer students clinical opportunities, externships and mentors, all crucial to the college’s growing emphasis in health sciences. Berry’s nursing program has plans to double the number of graduates in the next five years, and the new two-year Master of Medical Science – physician associate degree (set to launch in August 2025 pending accreditation) will enroll up to 40 new students every year.
“Great programs need great places, and that’s what this is about,” Briggs stated. “Success in today’s health care environment requires rigorous science-based education coupled with strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills and dedication to meeting the needs of others. These qualities align perfectly with Berry’s signature education of the head, heart and hands.”
