June 13, 2007
 
Byrd, Shepherd University Dedicate New Nursing School
Senator Calls Health Care a Major Challenge for the Country
 
By HNN Staff
from Sen. Byrd news release
 
Shepherdstown, WV (HNN) -- As Shepherd University officially opened its new School of Nursing, U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, promised those gathered with him on campus for the dedication event that the facility would be an important step in making health care more accessible for West Virginians.
 
"The Shepherd School of Nursing will be built on a foundation of traditional values -- caring, compassion, and devotion," Byrd said at the dedication event. "Producing quality health care professionals and dramatically improving health care outreach, treatment, and prevention can save countless lives. By supporting state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge programs at our West Virginia universities, colleges, and medical centers, we insure progress."
 
While applauding the new facility, Senator Byrd noted that the health care challenge remains a daunting one.
 
"Medicine today is a vastly complex world. Technology and skilled minds can identify and treat illnesses that even a few years ago might have proved fatal. Each day, new doors to medicine open, saving countless lives. But for far too many people, those doors are closed because they cannot afford health care. Some 46 million Americans, including 320,000 West Virginians, do not have health insurance. Nine million children are uninsured, and the number grows every single day. We must do better," Byrd explained.
 
"We live in the most advanced country in the world, bar none. But we fall far short when it comes to health care. It is shameful. We’ve got to get past the partisan labels on the health care debate and find common ground in the best interests of our families and our country," Byrd stated.
 
Byrd provided $10 million through the federal appropriations process to design and build the new nursing school. The 37,000 square-foot facility includes specialized nursing classrooms, laboratories, conference rooms, student study centers, and general classroom space.
 
Until this facility was constructed, the nursing program, because of incredible student demand, had been crammed into any available space in the university’s athletic building. Labs were next to locker rooms. Teaching facilities were subpar.
 
"Excellence defines Shepherd University, not mediocrity. This School of Nursing needed to be a top-notch facility, not just for the students and faculty, but also for the people who will rely on the graduates for medical care in the years ahead," Byrd explained. "The challenge now falls to those who will learn their skills in this new facility. To the nurses, I say, ‘Take the promise of your education and make it come alive for others through your healing arts.’"
 
At the dedication event on Tuesday, June 12, 2007, Shepherd University President David Dunlop announced that the university had decided to name the new nursing facility the "Erma Ora Byrd Hall," in honor of the Senator’s wife who passed away in March 2006 after battling illness for many years.