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Sim Lab Dedicated

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Click Photo to Enlarge President Richard Roberts (left) thanked Walter and Peggy Helmerich for their foundation's gift.

Click Photo to Enlarge The cake said it all.

Click Photo to Enlarge The Helmerichs hold the thank-you card from nursing students; inside were numerous handwritten notes of appreciation. Dr. Jezek, dean of the nursing school, looks on.

Click Photo to Enlarge Helmerich (left) told the nursing students that he is "so proud of each one of you for choosing this profession."

October 4 was a day of celebration at Oral Roberts University as the Anna Vaughn School of Nursing officially dedicated its Helmerich Foundation Pediatric Skills Lab.

On hand for the ceremony were Walter and Peggy Helmerich, founders of the Tulsa-based Helmerich Foundation. It was a $100,000 foundation gift that allowed ORU to fulfill its dream of a top-draw pediatrics simulation (sim) lab.

"We want to honor you today because you have blessed us so much," said Dr. Kenda Jezek, dean of the school, to the Helmerichs. "You have blessed not only our students, but every life that they will touch. They will go into every man's world. You'll never know the lives that you've touched just by seeding into this lab."

President Richard Roberts also honored the Helmerichs, saying, "I want to express my appreciation. Thank you for your kindness, your generosity to ORU. We thank God for what you've done. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

Dr. Patricia Catts, assistant professor of nursing, described the equipment that had been purchased for the lab as well as many of the space's other features. "It's very important that we learn to take care of the infants and the children," she pointed out. "You've given us a way to be the best that we can be."

Nursing instructor Laurie Doerner, who earned both her B.S.N. and M.S.N. from ORU, said that "this is a dream come true for me. It's opening up a whole new avenue of teaching for us. It will increase the comfort level of our students in taking care of infants."

Walter Helmerich brought smiles to the faces of the faculty, staff, and students who were present at the dedication when he shared that he and his wife "had a pink nursery for all five [of our] boys."

"Hope springs eternal!" said his wife, drawing laughter.

"What you do is so important," said Peggy Helmerich, addressing the students. During the years that she was having her family, she said, "we were in the hospital for 10 days" after giving birth. "It's a completely different world now. Women are only in the hospital for a matter of hours after giving birth. What you do for them in those few hours will be so important. It's such an important aspect of medicine."

The new sim lab, which will be used by nursing students in their junior and senior years of study, is located on the third floor of the Graduate Center.