The Hall County School Board Monday night approved $300,000 in donated funds to be used to purchase a home in Chicopee Village for the Ivester Early College Clinic.
The home will be transformed into a clinic, sitting across the street from the front corner of Ivester Early College. Students will have the opportunity to complete medical rotations and accrue clinical time, which will be bolstered and overseen by a partnership with Brenau University.
The asking price for the home was originally $293,000, but Superintendent William Schofield said they were able to get the price down to $280,000. The $300,000 donation that will be used to buy the home was given by the Melvin Douglas and Victoria Kay Ivester Foundation.
“We fully look over the next 18 months to hopefully having a clinic there that our students can get their clinical time and that our students in our schools can actually receive medical support,” Schofield said. “So it's a great opportunity.”
Those working in the clinic will be professionals who will be overseen by various training program staff with Brenau University. This will allow the students to obtain healthcare experience and deliver real services.
The home was built in 1926, according to Facilities and Construction Director Matt Cox. Before voting on the purchase of the home, the school board heard from students who studied in the trades and training programs in Hall County, and recently completed a home inspection on the property.
After the meeting and vote to purchase, Schofield expressed admiration for the students in Hall County who have been putting in the time to learn valuable trades.
“A couple of our students from one of our crews came in with their teacher because they actually did the inspection on the house that we just bought at Chicopee Village,” Schofield said. “They came back with a full-blown professional presentation of everything from the wiring, the HVAC, the insulation, the R-values, just everything, just tremendous, again, practical experience.”
