SKYCTC breaks ground in Glasgow

GLASGOW, Ky. – Shovels hit the dirt Thursday April 30 as leaders officially broke ground on a new health campus for Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College—a project aimed at addressing the growing demand for healthcare workers across the region.

The new facility, located off Veterans Outer Loop, will expand the college’s ability to train students in nursing and other allied health fields, areas that have seen increasing demand in recent years.

College President Michelle Trawick says one of the biggest challenges has been limited space at current campuses.

“Our biggest challenge is having the space to grow,” Trawick said. “This is going to allow us over the next five to seven years to move from 150 to 300 nursing graduates.”

Currently, SKYCTC operates nursing programs in both Bowling Green and Glasgow, with limited capacity for student enrollment. The new campus will allow the college to admit more students each term and expand its faculty to meet demand.

In addition to increased capacity, the facility will feature updated, state-of-the-art technology designed to better prepare students for real-world healthcare settings.

“This facility will have modern technology built into it, so they will have state-of-the-art, cutting-edge equipment,” Trawick said.

That includes advanced simulation labs with high-tech medical mannequins that can mimic real patient responses—giving students hands-on experience before they begin clinical work.

Leaders with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System say the project has been years in the making and reflects a broader statewide effort to strengthen the healthcare workforce.

“This was selected as a top priority for the healthcare needs of south-central Kentucky,” said Ryan Quarles, President of KCTCS.

Quarles says the more than $25 million investment will not only modernize training facilities, but also significantly increase the system’s capacity to educate future healthcare workers.

“This allows us to have not only state-of-the-art facilities, but also the capacity to grow, which our policymakers want us to do,” he said.

Despite operating in older facilities, SKYCTC’s nursing program is already ranked among the top in Kentucky. Leaders say the new campus will give students and faculty the resources they need to build on that success.

Another key impact: keeping talent local.

Trawick says many SKYCTC graduates choose to stay and work in Kentucky after completing their programs, helping fill critical staffing shortages in hospitals and clinics across the region.

Looking ahead, the college also hopes to expand additional allied health programs at the Glasgow campus as space becomes available.

The new health campus is expected to open to students in early 2029.