School of Dentistry opens in Augusta
Sept. 23, 2011 – Governor Nathan Deal traveled to Augusta for the grand opening of GeorgiaHealthSciencesUniversity’s new DentalBuilding.
Joining the governor were University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby and Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver, among other state, community and university leaders.
GHSU now has one of the largest new dental clinical facilities and class sizes in the country. The five-story, 269,133-square-foot building enabled this year’s freshman class to grow from 70 to 80 students. The building houses 316 clinical operatories, the college’s eight residency programs, two large clinics for junior and senior dental students, simulation labs, an expanded faculty practice, the College of Allied Health Sciences’ dental hygiene program and an operating room and recovery unit for outpatient surgery.
The college's new home is the first on the GHSU campus to apply for LEED-certification, denoting leadership in energy and environmental design. The building has been recognized as the Best Higher Education/Research Project for 2011 from ENR Southeast, an industry magazine focused on construction news and trends.
Approximately 260 patients are treated in the building each day. The expanded clinical space will enable a 61 percent increase in dental students per class and a 30 percent increase in faculty by 2016. The number of dental residencies will increase 64 percent by 2013.
The growth will help fill a pressing need for dentists in Georgia, which ranks 48th in the country for dentists per 100,000 residents. U.S. Department of Labor estimates indicate Georgia needs to fill an average of 160 dental positions per year. Nearly one in seven Georgia counties lacks a dentist.
The GHSU College of Dental Medicine typically recruits over a third of its students from dental health shortage areas. GHSU alumni are found in 130 of 159 counties in Georgia.
Almost half of 2010 graduates entered residency programs upon graduation, which should help increase the number of dental specialists and general dentists with advanced training who practice in Georgia.
“We’re very pleased to welcome the largest class in the history of this dental school,” said Dean Connie Drisko when the building opened last month. “These … students represent the best of the best in Georgia and will soon join the over 2,000 graduates of this outstanding institution.”
Quick Facts
- Design Professional: Lord Aeck Sargent Architecture
- General Contractor: BE&K Building Group
- GSFIC Project Manager: Doré May
- GSFIC Contract Compliance Specialist: Frank Andrews, Pete Carter, Jeff Bleam