Cedarville University’s new $22.5 million Health Sciences Center will better prepare the school’s nursing and pharmacy students through collaboration and state-of-the-art simulations, according to educators.

“It’s going to provide safe care, high-quality care and anticipating needs for families, for patients and for professionals,” said Jan Conway, chair of the school of nursing.

Dayton-based Danis Building Construction — the same company that built Springfield Regional Medical Center’s new campus — handled the $18 million project. The college spent an additional $4.5 million on equipment and technology in the building.

The project was paid for through a capital campaign, said Mark Weinstein, executive director of public relations at Cedarville.

The 80,000-square foot building includes classrooms, small group work space, research facilities and state-of-the-art simulation labs. The labs are equipped with hospital beds and mannequins that mimic patient needs, pharmacy equipment for pharmacists-in-training and a birth simulation suite.

“We actually designed something that I think is setting the stage for 2030 in terms for education, preparation for the future of health care, preparing students for a very dynamic environment,” said Marc Sweeney, dean of the school of pharmacy.

The “Sim Mom” birth simulation suite was the first delivered to an Ohio university, although some schools now have followed suit, Conway said. Two high-tech mannequins mimic patient conditions such as seizures, blue lips, sweating and tears.

“You talk about bells and whistles, it has all the bells and whistles,” she said.

The Health Sciences Center combines the pharmacy and nursing schools into one space that will allow students to gain experience working with other practitioners, officials said.

“They did a lot of creative things to make the building more useful for both of them, thereby getting some great gains for both colleges at the same time,” said Annmarie Thurnquist, pre-constuction manager at Danis.

The new facility will be an asset to the area, said Alan Liming, president and CEO of the Xenia Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Economically, education-wise, you can’t beat this,” he said. “Seeing things like this happen is really exciting.”