Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing continues to grow in the spirit of Betty Irene Moore’s passion for improving the health care system.
For decades, Betty Irene Moore has been an advocate for improving the quality and safety of health care. After experiencing a medication error that nearly cost her life, and in caring for family members who have been hospitalized, Betty saw an opportunity to improve the care that people receive. She felt that training and educating nurses was an important first step, since they deliver a majority of care to patients.
Through the years, our work has focused on ways to help the multitude of health care professionals successfully improve how care is delivered and experienced. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis is no exception. Through its immersive interprofessional and interdisciplinary education, the state-of-the-art school is preparing future health care leaders to discover and disseminate knowledge and practices that advance the field, improve quality of care and shape policy.
The journey: Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis
In 2007, the foundation announced $100 million to create the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. At the time, this was the largest philanthropic grant to build a school of nursing, the largest gift to UC Davis and one of the largest gifts in the history of the University of California. From the time the school opened its doors in 2010 to today, it continues to reach new heights and at an unbelievable pace.
In 2012, just two years after the school was operational, 26 students graduated with a Master of Science in Leadership. The first cohort of Doctor of Philosophy students collected degrees in 2014, followed by 24 Master of Science students and six nurse practitioner and 24 physician assistant certificate graduates in 2015. Shortly thereafter, the school gained national recognition as one of the top 50 schools of nursing in the country by U.S. News and World Report (the first year it was eligible for the recognition) and has been recognized each year since 2015.
As of December 2017, the school boasts 271 alumni, 302 current students and five graduate degree programs, including the latest addition to the program offerings – an 18-month accelerated-degree program allowing students to receive Master of Science in Nursing degrees.
The latest achievement: Betty Irene Moore Hall
Continuing its journey in building a new model of educating health care professionals, the school of nursing broke ground on its permanent home in 2015. Two years later, in October 2017, with hundreds of students, faculty, community leaders and more looking on, Founding Dean Heather M. Young led a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of Betty Irene Moore Hall. The newest academic building at UC Davis Health is home to the graduate programs of the school of nursing and supports interprofessional health sciences education. The $50 million, 70,000-square foot building is geared towards collaborative, hands-on learning and is designed to inspire discovery and innovation.
The hall represents the last major installment of funding since the foundation’s initial commitment of $100 million. It continues to represent the vision to advance health and ignite leadership through innovative education, transformative research and bold system change, all while carrying Betty’s name.
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