Fayetteville Technical Community College on Tuesday celebrated the renaming of two campus buildings, following a $2 million donation from Cape Fear Valley Health.
The donation—the largest in the college’s history, according to an FTCC press release—will be used to support the institution’s nursing and allied health programs. Together, the programs make up about 30% of FTCC’s curriculum enrollment.
The newly named Cape Fear Valley School of Nursing and Cape Fear Valley School of Health Sciences were formerly known as the Nursing Education & Simulation Center and the Health Technologies Center, both of which stand along Hull Road on FTCC’s Fayetteville campus.
The donation represents a “transformative step forward” for students studying health-related disciplines, FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells said. He said there is a “critical need” for health care workers in the Sandhills region, which is classified as a health desert—an area that has limited or no access to health care services.
Mike Nagowski, CEO of Cape Fear Valley Health, said the health care workforce trained at local institutions is a vital aspect of providing quality care to the community.
“We don’t want you to have to travel to receive world-class care, and we’re going to continue growing the care that we provide here,” Nagowski said. “That requires a workforce that is well-trained, ready and eager to provide that care, and that is exactly what Fayetteville Tech is doing here.”
Nagowski also said hundreds of FTCC students already utilize Cape Fear Valley Health campuses and work with health care professionals in the health system to satisfy practical learning application requirements for their studies.
In 2024, FTCC received $1.5 million in funding from the North Carolina Community College System for the support and expansion of nursing and health-related programs at the school. The same year, FTCC received state approval to expand enrollment in their associate degree in nursing from 280 to 400 students beginning in fall 2025.
According to FTCC, more that 300 students are enrolled in nursing programs at the institution, over 700 enrolled across 19 allied health programs, and more than 2,500 in health-related prerequisite courses, which the school said prepares students for the competitive application process to nursing and other health-related programs.