Lexington Medical Center and the University of South Carolina broke ground in West Columbia on a multi-story, 52,000-sqft. College of Nursing, Thursday. State Sen. Nikki Setzler of West Columbia attended the event and spoke. the school is expected to open for its first class of nursing students in the fall 2024. The school is across Sunset Boulevard from LMC’s main campus, near I-26.

It is a public-private partnership and LMC will provide clinical instructors and build the facility. USC will pay for equipment, a simulation center, and furnishings for classrooms.

USC now produces 220 nursing grads annually. That number will increase to 400 nurses per year with the new school. It’s an 80 percent increase. USC and LMC will also partner on a graduate medical education program to train primary care physicians. The first GME program will accept 13 residents per year beginning this summer.