As nursing students completed their first week of classes for Fall 2025, UCF concluded the opening celebrations of the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion with an open house and tour for alumni, donors and community partners.
Community support played a pivotal role in the creation of the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion, and the UCF and Central Florida community helped celebrate its opening.
Hundreds of alumni, donors, partners and community members convened on UCF’s Academic Health Sciences Campus in Lake Nona to experience the future of nursing — a future that is innovative, collaborative and transformative.
With the new 90,000-square-foot facility, UCF will produce more high-demand talent by graduating an additional 150 newly licensed eligible Knight nurses annually and will reimagine nursing education and practice to create a healthier future for Central Florida and beyond.
“Today we are witnessing the power of partnerships,” said Professor Emerita Mary Lou Sole, who as the previous College of Nursing dean led the efforts to advocate and raise funds for the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion.
“The Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion is the result of the collective efforts of everyone here, UCF and this community, to come together to solve one of our greatest healthcare challenges,” said Sole.
Guests gathered on the expansive Zaby and Suree Vyas Collaboration Concourse for opening remarks before embarking on self-guided tours.
Those tours began on the first floor and included areas that support student success and well-being: the Martin Andersen-Gracia Andersen Foundation Study Café, Roslyn and Jody Burttram Student Success Resource Room, and student success suite.
Also located on the first floor of the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion are the AdventHealth, Orlando Health, and Nemours Children’s Health Learning Studios.
The learning studios, which each seat 96 students, are high-tech spaces to enhance education and collaboration.
A centerpiece of the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion is the Helene Fuld Health Trust STIM Center, which will build upon UCF’s global leadership in simulation excellence and prepare future Knight nurses for clinical practice.
Within the Helene Fuld Health Trust STIM Center is the Dr. Colleen Conway-Welch Virtual Reality Learning Studio, a dedicated space to pioneer best practices in innovative technologies and immersive learning to strengthen skills.
The Helene Fuld Health Trust STIM Center includes the Essentials and Skills Lab, a high-tech simulated hospital setting to bridge classroom learning to real-world practice.
The Health Assessment Lab provides a simulated clinic environment to advance education for advanced practice and includes 12 exam stations.
“Here at the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion, UCF will be able to execute its bold vision of transforming nursing for the 21st century to ensure a healthier, brighter future for all,” said Sharon Tucker, dean of UCF’s College of Nursing.
“This facility will have an impact on everyone involved in this project and all of those who enter here in the future,” said Tucker.
“Just like this beautiful and inspirational art hanging above us, the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion will reflect the values of UCF’s College of Nursing, compassion, innovation, excellence and integrity, into the community with vitality,” said Tucker.
The Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion is made possible thanks to its founding donors:
*UCF Pegasus Partners
Article by Julie Harper ’01
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