SPSCC Opens the Bowen Center for Health Education

On Oct. 11, 2022, South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) celebrated the grand opening of the Dr. Angela J. Bowen Center for Health Education with a ribbon-cutting event. The Bowen Center was acquired in January 2019 and is now the home of the SPSCC Foundation and Nursing and Medical Assisting programs.

The building is named in honor of Dr. Angela Bowen, an Olympia physician, medical research pioneer, and philanthropist who passed away in 2017. The building was originally constructed and used by Dr. Bowen and her estate gave the SPSCC Foundation a $1.19 million in-kind contribution to support the purchase of the building, the largest gift of its kind in college history.

Nearly 100 community members participated in the event, which included recognition of several additional college supporters who helped support SPSCC’s health education programs, including the Bruno & Evelyne Betti Foundation which gave a $1 million gift in 2020 to build a Healthcare Simulation Lab, and Inge Marcus, who created the Marcus Family Endowed Scholarship in Nursing.

Following the ceremony, attendees toured the newly renovated spaces where Nursing and Medical Assisting students hosted a few demonstrations of the equipment.

“In addition to the refinement of our simulation and lab spaces, the Bowen Center provides a space dedicated to the future of healthcare,” said Jillian Menchaca, a second-year nursing student at SPSCC and one of the ceremony speakers. “This is a place where we can thrive and be ourselves. Simply put, the Bowen Center is an investment in the future of nurses and an investment in my future. That is something I’ll always be thankful for.”

Other speakers at the ceremony included SPSCC President Dr. Tim Stokes, Board of Trustees Chair Rozanne Garman, Dean of Allied Health & Nursing Marriya Wright, SPSCC Foundation Executive Director Tanya Mote, SPSCC Foundation Board Member and Executor of the Estate of Dr. Angela J. Bowen Ted Schultz, and Bruno & Evelyne Betti Foundation Trustee Sandy Mackie.