St. Mary's dedicates education center

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HUNTINGTON -- It was fitting that St. Mary's Medical Center dedicated its new Center for Education on the hospital's 85th birthday.

The one mantra that came from the various speakers and a video tribute was the progress made since a small group of Pallottine Sisters started the hospital in 1924.

"The center ... wouldn't be possible without the seeds that were sewn in years past," said Doug Korstanje, director of marketing and community relations, at Friday afternoon's ceremony.

The Center for Education, located at the corner of 29th Street and 5th Avenue, houses the School of Nursing, School of Medical Imaging and the School of Respiratory Care. The nursing school is the oldest, dating back to 1926.

Dr. Sheila Kyle, vice president of the School of Nursing and Health Professions, said more than 3,500 students have gone through the program. The new center, with up-to-date health technology, will continue to graduate the very best, she said.

"It's just the mindset change," said 45-year-old nursing student Rex Adams of the new facility. "Knowing you come in here and have state-of-the-art facilities."

The dedication was attended by hundreds of community members, business leaders, local officials and students. It included a short speech by Sister Celeste Lynch, the president of Pallottine Health Services and past director of the School of Nursing.

It's been 55 years since Lynch entered the School of Nursing as a student, and she said she has been impressed by the advances the medical center has made in the decades since.

"What does this center mean to us? Lives will be changed and shaped in these classrooms," Lynch said. "We have better classrooms, better teaching and space for three schools in one building. It allows the students to have a dynamic learning opportunity. It gives them what they've been looking for for many years."

U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, but with a possible vote on health care reform looming this weekend, he stayed in Washington. However, he did send a video, in which he congratulated St. Mary's, calling it a "model of opportunity and promise for our community."

Renovations on the building, which used to house a Sears and then a Big Bear grocery store, were completed in May. There are dozens of classrooms and labs for learning experiences. In the hallway, former nursing uniforms and photographs are displayed to reflect the history of the hospital and its schools.

"This building pays great homage to its past, but it's very much in the 21st century," Lynch said.

Also speaking at Friday's event were Michael Sellards, president and CEO of St. Mary's Medical Center, and Dr. Charles H. McKown, the dean and vice president for Health Sciences at Marshall University's School of Medicine.

The Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, bishop from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, prayed for and blessed the new Center for Education.

Chris Jackson/The Herald-Dispatch

The Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, bishop from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, far left, Sister Celeste Lynch, are joined by other Pallottine nuns at the St. Mary's Medical Center's celebration of its 85th anniversary and dedication of the new St. Mary's Center for Education on Friday, November 6, 2009, at the new center on 5th Avenue.