Contact: Maridith Geuder
A Sept. 25 grand opening will formally introduce Mississippi State University's recently renovated health center to the campus and surrounding communities.
A 2 p.m. ribbon cutting on the front porch of the John C. Longest Student Health Center will precede tours of the 38-year-old facility that recently underwent a $1.8 million expansion.
Light refreshments will be provided, as will opportunities to receive door prizes and gift certificates for health center screenings.
"We will schedule no patient visits that afternoon so that faculty, staff, students, and the general public may see the improved facility and the services that we offer," said Bill Broyles, assistant to the vice president for student affairs and health center business manager.
A comprehensive outpatient health facility that expects to treat 50,000 patients this year, the Longest Center is located on the east side of campus at the intersection of Morrill and Hardy roads. The staff of 50 includes five physicians and three nurse practitioners.
Broyles said among new features are a much larger waiting room, additional examination rooms, improved access, an in-house laboratory, and a pharmacy now open to the general public.
Approved by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, the 31,000-square-foot facility also includes a classroom that may be used by the campus community.
"Our staff offers a wide range of medical services, including a women's health focus, sports medicine, allergy shots, a travel shot clinic, physical therapy, nutrition counseling, and wellness programs, among others," said Dr. Robert K. Collins, director of the facility named for his predecessor.
Longest, who retired in 1988 and died in 1998, led the university's student health operations for 40 years. A nationally recognized physician, he was a graduate of MSU, University of Mississippi and Louisiana State University Medical School.
For more information on the event, telephone Broyles at (662) 325-7532.