West Campus
YVC Dr. Kamiski West Campus
Opened in January 2021, this $22.7 million expansion project transformed one of Yakima’s busiest crossroads into a stunning facility that is not only educating the next generation but benefiting the entire community.
West Campus Facilities
YVC’s West Campus features facilities for teaching future health care professionals, the Larson Art Gallery, and the Yakima Tasting Room for Yakima Valley Vintners, the college’s award-winning teaching winery, while providing a premier location for conferences and meetings.
The beautiful new Medical Assisting area has three mock exam rooms, a lab processing room, and a large classroom space — all designed to create real-life, hands-on experiences for medical assisting students. Each mock exam room is designed to emulate a real exam room, with an exam table, sink, wall blood pressure cuffs, and wall-mounted glove and sharps containers. The largest demonstration exam room offers a large open space for group demonstrations as well as a Sim Nurse Anne Manikin. The Sim Nurse Anne Manikin simulates blood pressure, pulses, respirations, urinary cauterization, and other patient conditions. This enables scenarios to be designed for students to interact with the manikin, providing a highly realistic patient interaction experience. A camera is mounted above the exam table will project live demonstrations onto the wall for larger classes.
The lab processing room is used to process blood and urine specimens. This space is designed to emulate a real clinic; for example, a pass-through window is installed in each bathroom where students can collect a “patient’s” urine and then process it. The processing room — shared with the Phlebotomy program — also allows students to spin blood samples using centrifuges. The classroom space provides lab tables for up to 20 students, ample counter space, storage, and a designated area for students to prepare medications. A camera is installed above the instructor’s station to ensure all students have a close-up view of what is being shown in demonstrations.
“I am most excited for students to have ample room to practice skills in an area that emulates a real clinic. Anytime a student can get a ‘real life’ experience, it provides them with the confidence to succeed going into their externship.”
Cami Pangrazi, Medical Assisting Program Chair
With the opening of YVC’s new Allied Health space in West Campus, Medical Billing and Coding students will now have a reception area that they will be sharing with the Medical Assisting students. This reception area will be located in the Medical Assisting Lab. Students will be able to perform real world scenarios and gain practical experience using the new skills they have learned. These scenarios can include other Allied Health students utilizing their clinical skills, simulating interactions with other health care professionals that Medical Billing and Coding students will experience in the workplace. These roles can also include playing the part of the patient.
“Our students will benefit tremendously from the realistic practice that they will experience in this new space. The real world scenarios that they’ll experience will prepare them to successfully launch their careers.
Sandy Erlewine, Medical Billing & Coding Program Chair
Pharmacy technician jobs are in demand in the Yakima area and their roles are expanding. In addition to the traditional duties of aiding the pharmacist in inventory keeping and medication dispensing, now a growing number of technicians are given opportunities to administer immunizations, perform special compounding, work with evolving technology, tackle complex billing, and are key in obtaining complete patient medication histories.
The new Pharmacy Technician Laboratory gives YVC students an opportunity to work with modern equipment in an innovative space. The lab reflects real life settings that can imitate both outpatient and inpatient pharmacy practice. Students will be able to simulate workflow by dispensing prescriptions in a mock retail space. Advanced skills such as sterile compounding will be practiced by preparing in the anteroom and preparing mixtures in the mock IV/clean room. This unique and intentionally purposed learning space gives YVC students an advantage in being better prepared for the community workplace.
“After seeing the new Pharmacy Technician Lab for the first time I felt like I was dreaming. I am personally thrilled and thankful for this new space! It will be amazing to work with students in a life-like setting that will not only help build their skills but nurture their confidence in performing them in the pharmacy workplace.”
Stephanie O’Brine, Pharmacy Technician Program
Students in YVC’s Phlebotomy certificate program will benefit from a new Medical Laboratory in the West Campus Allied Health space designed specifically to support students in acquiring the essential skills of this fast-growing profession.
Key features of the Medical Laboratory are:
• Real world blood draw station setups.
• Restrooms with pass-through windows for ease of specimen collection.
• Processing lab with centrifuges.
• Increased space to comfortably accommodate students as they practice essential skills.
• Patient waiting room with computer check-in processes.
“I am excited for Phlebotomy students to learn in the new Medical Laboratory because it will provide real world simulation opportunities. The draw stations will be similar to what they will encounter in their externships. Students will be able to simulate the process of checking patients in, reviewing lab orders, receiving and processing specimens as well as interacting with mock patients to improve their communication skills.”
Lisa Dominguez, Phlebotomy Program Instructor
Learning that takes place in a simulated environment must be true to life. That is what the new West Campus Allied Health building will do for YVC students. The more than 55 years combined experience teaching Allied Health faculty have affords students access to the level of knowledge with theory and skills they need to be successful. Now, with a space that matches that high level of instructional experience, YVC students will have the ability to learn in an environment that prepares them for excellence in the workplace.
Surgical technology students will learn in state of the art operating rooms — providing the ability to practice essential skills in an environment which prepares students to be an integral part of the surgical team. The new facility includes three surgical suites, a decontamination and sterile processing department, sterile storage room and space for all of the specialized equipment and supplies required for surgical training. As a surgeon’s second pair of hands, surgical technologists must be ready to function in any surgical environment. This new space provides students fully integrated learning and the best available preparation for their profession. The entire Yakima Valley community will benefit, as YVC graduates work in community operating rooms, pharmacies, healthcare provider clinics, hospital laboratories, healthcare administrative companies, nursing facilities and hospitals.
“YVC’s surgical technology students are sought out for their excellent skills and their adherence to ethics in their surgical training. With our new facility, I am thrilled to be able to raise the level of educational experience in a true to life way so they are the best possible surgical team members for this community. The fully integrated learning in an excellent simulated environment will give this community surgical technologists that are prepared to serve at the highest level.”
Libby McRae, Surgical Technology Program Instructor/Coordinator
The tasting room is a place for visitors to experience the award-winning wines crafted by the student winemakers of Yakima Valley Vintners. An elegant tasting bar features beautiful countertops and video technology showcasing educational aspects of the wine industry. Guests will be able to sample and purchase wines for enjoyment by the glass or bottle in an indoor seating area or adjacent outdoor sculpture garden was done in partnership with the Larson Gallery. This social gathering area has outdoor art and can accommodate live music or other entertainment.
Inside the tasting room, educational displays will enable guests to learn about the grape and wine industry as well as career or training opportunities through YVC’s Vineyard & Winery Technology Program. One corner of the tasting room will transform seasonally and provide visitors an opportunity to experience and practice some common wine analysis and learn about tools used in the grape growing and winemaking industry. Artwork representing the beauty of Yakima Valley’s grape and wine production region is incorporated throughout the tasting room.
“For more than a decade, YVC student winemakers have been crafting award-winning wines while completing their Vineyard & Winery Technology degree. We are so excited there is now a venue in Yakima to highlight the students’ handiwork. This tasting room will be a place to get fantastic wines, enjoy art and music, and learn about the careers and educational opportunities in the grape and wine industry.”
Trent Ball, Vineyard and Winery Technology Instructor
The new Larson Gallery provides increased exhibition space that includes the capability for presenting one or two simultaneous shows. The new gallery space meets modern standards for excellence in lighting, display and preservation of artwork. These new standards increase the capacity to host a wider range of specialized exhibits from other museums and colleges.
The new facility includes an entryway with a dedicated and expanded gift shop that is connected to the adjacent wine tasting room. In its new location, Larson Gallery also will have an outside sculpture garden with areas for wall display, a catering kitchen, a workshop and graphics area, and public restrooms. Visitors to the new Larson Gallery also will have access to free, dedicated parking right outside the facility. The original Larson Gallery building, built in 1949, will now host events and workshops.
“The new Larson Gallery space is equipped to meet modern museum standards and will allow us the capacity to show exhibits we could not in the old space. Its convenient access will create a better experience for students and the community.”
David Lynx, Larson Gallery Director
The West Campus conference and events center offers the Yakima Valley community a variety of options from small group meeting rooms to the main conference room that can hold up to 500 people or be divided into smaller rooms. The conference center includes an outdoor event garden, is equipped with the latest technology, and features convenient parking.
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