Building nurses at home: Prisma Health center opens doors for Laurens County students

Laurens County now has its own hub for training the next generation of nurses. The Prisma Health Center for Nursing at Piedmont Technical College is open and in use on the college’s Laurens County campus on Medical Ridge Road. It gives local students a path from entry-level patient care all the way to becoming registered nurses without leaving the county.

Students began training in the center this semester. Community leaders, educators and health care officials celebrated the milestone with a ribbon cutting Thursday, Oct. 15. The center was made possible by a $1 million gift Prisma Health committed to the PTC Foundation in 2024, and it will serve 80 students.

For Laurens County, the center is about more than classrooms. It is a long-term investment in local jobs, local health care and the people who will care for their neighbors at the county’s hospital and clinics for years to come.

“It’s changing lives,” PTC President Hope E. Rivers said at the ribbon cutting. “It’s opening opportunities for our students.”

Rivers said she could not be more pleased with the partnership between the college and Prisma Health.

The center’s renovated labs and classrooms are designed to look and work like the clinical and laboratory settings students will use after graduation. That lets students practice real-world skills before they ever step onto a hospital floor.

At the heart of the partnership is a nursing career ladder that lets students build their careers one step at a time. Students can start as patient care technicians in a one-semester program, then move into the three-semester practical nursing program. Licensed practical nurses can then continue into the associate degree in nursing program, which prepares them to take the licensure exam to become registered nurses. Each step qualifies students for a paying job, so they can work in health care while they keep climbing. PTC officials expect enrollment and completion rates to grow at every level with Prisma Health’s support.

The gift also funds three new staff positions. It also strengthens training in other health care fields offered on the Laurens County campus, including radiology, lab technology, ultrasound and medical assisting. When the gift was announced in 2024, Prisma Health officials said current hospital employees would also be able to use the program to grow their skills and move up in their careers right here in Laurens.

The timing matters. A federal health workforce report has projected that South Carolina could face the seventh-largest shortage of registered nurses in the nation by 2036. Training nurses locally makes it more likely they will stay and serve in the community where they learned.

Jennifer Rogers, chief nursing officer for Prisma Health Laurens County Hospital and Prisma Health Hillcrest Hospital, said the payoff will be felt for generations.

“We’re excited that our investment has helped establish a state-of-the-art education center that will produce highly trained, skilled nurses who will care for patients here in Laurens County for decades to come,” Rogers said.

The ribbon cutting was held in conjunction with the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Business After Hours. Business and community leaders came to see the new space firsthand.

“It’s important for Laurens County to have a strong workforce, and this is a great step in that direction,” said Dabs Davis, president and CEO of the chamber. “Prisma Health is a great place for people to go to work. They take care of our patients and give good patient care. And this partnership between Piedmont Tech and Prisma Health is going to make a big difference in our community.”