The City of Williston and Williams County say they want to improve quality of life in the region. Healthcare remains one of the region’s biggest challenges, which is why Williston State College is building a medical training facility on campus.
College President Bernell Hirning told the city commission Tuesday that JLG Architects was selected to lead the project. They also worked on the college’s childcare center, which opened a month ago. Hirning says all this was made possible through state funding.
“We are excited to have them leading the design of this project because of the quality of work that they do,” said Hirning.
The college will soon be looking for bids for a construction manager, with the hope construction will begin by summer.
“It looks to be about a 12-to-15-month actual construction project,” said Hirning.
Hirning says they have been meeting with regional healthcare providers to find out what courses the facility should offer to help train the workforce. Hirning says they are looking at six initial courses which they hope to offer as early as next fall.
“We have a meeting scheduled with the Provost at the University of North Dakota the first week of November to have a conversation of what it will look like for them to bring an in-person bachelor’s program in Behavioral Health. In addition to that, we’re looking at addiction studies. That conversation will be with Minot state,” said Hirning.
The other four programs include EMS, Phlebotomy, Office Support Staff and Health Information Systems.
Next week, Hirning says college staff, students and the community will be invited to a series of forums by JLG to gather input on the project.
