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Since last fall, Planning & Construction (P&C) has been hard at work renovating the second floor of the Campus Services Building (CSB) for its new occupants - the School of Public Health (SPH) centers. CSB rooms 229 through 235 now house three SPH community-facing organizations and a state agency working toward the same goal:
*a state agency partnered and co-located with UNLV’s SPH centers
Why the Move?
These moves have been a series of adjustments as each School of Public Health center establishes the best way it can serve the community inside and outside of UNLV. NICRP previously resided in CSB before moving to the Gateway building to be co-located with other SPH coalitions. But as their work has grown, these entities needed more space, especially space that is more accessible to community members. The four centers’ work is closely related, making the move to one centralized location within CSB a logical choice.
These centers advocate for at-risk groups in Nevada, seeking to improve health equity and eliminate health-related disparities across vulnerable and marginalized communities. They perform evaluations, needs assessments, research, and collect local data to determine what’s currently needed to improve public health. Their work is distinct and intersectional.
Intersectionality refers to the interconnectedness of social categories and how that connectedness affects an individual’s experience in life. For example, a child who is also a minority would be at risk of the different health disparities experienced by both children and minorities, making the research of all four health centers relevant. Intersectional research is more complete, and at large, everyone benefits from the results of shared information and knowledge.
If you’d like to know more about any of the public health organizations and their work, please visit their webpages.
What’s in the New Space?
As might be expected of a space for public health centers, much of the second floor redesign focused on wellness. The new offices and workspaces are spacious and invite in as much natural light as possible, and it’s clear that comfort and privacy for employees and community guests was a main consideration. There are also several new meeting rooms—including a large training room that is reservable by anyone in CSB through the calendar! With its current setup, it holds 32 people, but with additional seating, it has a max capacity of 65.
Perhaps the coolest new feature of the renovation is the Wellness Room. This space is a spot for their community visitors and employees of the public health centers to take a break, rest, stretch—or have a comfortable space to connect with one another.
What’s Next?
The community-facing public health centers in CSB are planning two open houses for early June: one for the SPH and other employees located in the CSB, and a second for community partners and the UNLV campus. Curious to see the new space and meet your new neighbors before then? Swing by and say hi!
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