One smart hospital

UTA’s revolutionary new facility will train social workers and nurses • By Elizabeth Couch

The University of Texas at Arlington is building a new home to teach and train the next generation of social workers and health care professionals. UTA leaders broke ground last month on a $76 million facility that will usher in critical advancements in the feld of health care, bringing together the University’s celebrated School of Social Work and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation’s Smart Hospital.

“We are incredibly excited to create this new home for UTA’s social work and nursing students, faculty and staf,” says Teik Lim, UTA’s interim president. “Collaborative work within this building will set the stage for the future of health care and social work. Research shows that when professionals in social work and nursing collaborate, patients have better outcomes.”

The 150,000-square-foot facility will be a state-of-the-art space to serve current and future students. It will also provide room for social work programs to grow and evolve to meet the critical needs of North Texas’ communities through enhanced

collaboration with health care providers and hospitals. The new building will be a mix of fexible, cutting-edge, technology-enriched learning spaces; teaching and research labs; simulation learning center; student engagement, study and support spaces; and faculty and staf ofces.

The facility will create a new Health Sciences Quad on the UTA campus, adjacent to the Science & Engineering Innovation & Research (SEIR) building, Life Science building, and Pickard Hall, home to CONHI.

For more than 50 years, UTA’s School of Social Work has promoted excellence in research, teaching and service to create educational opportunities for students and their communities, with the goal of achieving a just society. Its Master of Social Work program with specialties ofered in Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Aging, Community and Administrative Practice, Children and Families and Health is consistently ranked among the best in the nation.

“Being able to bring everyone together under one roof will allow for more open collaboration between social workers, health care professionals, community organizations and clinical practice,” says Scott Ryan, dean of the School of Social Work. “I think this opportunity will allow us to have more vibrant interactions with our students and will propel us forward in doing innovative social work for the community and continuing being a top program in the nation.”

UTA graduates the most nurses in Texas and has one of the largest nursing programs in the nation. The nursing program was designated one of 17 nationwide to be named a 2020 Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing, considered the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. “This new building will greatly beneft our nursing students and other clinical students by providing them access to greater clinical simulation experiences as a part of their clinical education,” says Elizabeth Merwin, CONHI dean. “Those students will become the health care workforce for the Image courtesy or UTA future, and they will graduate from UTA knowing they received the fnest education to address patient needs. Our innovative faculty have created state-of-the-art clinical simulation education that takes place in the Smart Hospital, which is a hallmark of our nursing program. The new building will further enhance this outstanding diferential feature of our nursing program.”

Though intended as a temporary space, the current Smart Hospital has served the college for approximately 13 years. The projected completion date for the new facility is November 2022.

HOME SWEET! HOME

How some creative changes helped this abode attractively travel from 1974 to 2021

When Realtor® Erin Bergin and her husband Jason purchased a Pantego home in foreclosure in 2009, the plan all along was to turn a dated “before” model into an “after” dwelling that their family and friends could enjoy – both aesthetically and practically. As the photos on these two pages show, the mission has been accomplished.

The 2,800-square-foot, four-bedroom dwelling was built in 1974, and many of the original features were showing their age, Erin says. But she knew the home had potential.

“With my real estate background, I see things I like all the time,” she says. “So we decided to adapt ours to what I had seen and felt would work.”

The redo started modestly enough: some paint and new carpet throughout the home. Ultimately, with the help of Jon Fisher Living and Virtuous Tile Craftsmanship, Erin and Jason gave a face lift to virtually every portion of the house. The original sun room became an ofce, where both mind and body could be honed – the Bergins installed a Peloton there. They opened up the formal living room and updated the look with new foor coverings and 21st century hues throughout. They overhauled a badly outdated kitchen by changing the fooring, appliances, cabinets and counter tops.

The original dining areas featured beautiful window views, and the Bergins made them even more appealing by updating fxtures, the furniture, interior wall colors and by adding all the “right” accessories for each setting.

Bedrooms were transformed from a dark look to something more vibrant. Some attractive and practical furniture highlighted the metamorphosis that took place on the exterior of the home.

And then there was the master bathroom.

“It had a terrible bathroom,” Erin says. “We completely changed the design, and now it looks so much better.”

Erin says that while the Bergin abode is a classic “before/after” triumph, it represents more to her and Jason. “It has kind of been an evolution of love,” she says.

“After” photos: Major Images