United Gives Nursing Center a Boost

A $150,000 gift from United Supermarkets LLC was a boon to South Plains College’s Center for Nursing and Allied Health Education, which officially opened its doors after a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting Tuesday.

“We are proud to have played a small part in helping South Plains College expand and double the number of students being trained in the nursing and allied health fields,” said Robert Taylor, United CEO. “This will add greatly to the career opportunities for area students and improve the already high-quality health care in this region of West Texas.”

The new facility houses the Levelland, Texas-based college’s associate degree nursing, vocational nursing and physical therapist assistant programs. United’s gift was used to equip the 27-room nursing skills lab, a central component to the 36,000-square-foot facility for the college’s nursing programs, which will train more than 125 students each year.

The funds from United were also used to make a hospital suite of patient rooms. The 14 rooms are equipped with electric patient beds, low-fidelity Laerdal patient mannequins, wound treatment accessories for the mannequins, over-bed and bedside tables and intravenous solution stands.

In its 96th year of operation, Lubbock, Texas-based United Supermarkets is a family-owned grocery chain that operates 51 stores across north and west Texas under four distinct formats: United Supermarkets, Market Street, Amigos and United Express. The company’s 52nd store – a fourth-generation Market Street location – is currently under construction in Lubbock.