Jacksonville University is converting the former Alumni House next to its Arlington campus into an Occupational Therapy ADL Lab and for the new Department of Occupational Therapy doctoral program.
ADL is activities of daily living. The doctoral program is within the School of Applied Health Sciences in the Brooks Rehabilitation Center of Healthcare Sciences.
JU said students will attend classes, volunteer and conduct their practicum there.
JU, at 2800 University Blvd. N., said the program and the building are complementary to the Dolphin Pointe Landing development immediately north of the campus. That will allow students and residents to experience inter-generational clinical opportunities.
“Since the Alumni House was, in fact, a home, it is perfect for working with patients needing to work on ADL,” said Margaret Dees, JU senior vice president of enrollment management and communications.
Dees said renovations and site work will be about $500,000.
Dees said there is a demand for graduates in occupational therapy, which allows JU to “meet a critical need in the region and state.”
Dees said the first entering class of 24 students is for the summer term. It is a three-year, full-time program and the first class is filled.
The city is reviewing a permit application for the project at 3412 University Blvd. N. Plans show a $65,000 remodeling of the two-story, 6,330-square-foot building.
The first floor comprises a simulation assessment studio, library and resource center, ADL kitchen, bedroom and orthotics labs, and more. The second floor comprises offices and a deck, which will be added.
Dolphin Pointe Landing will include Dolphin Pointe Health Care, designed to be an all-private suite skilled nursing center along the St. Johns River
Dolphin Pointe Health Care LLC is led by manager and President Gregory Nelson, a JU graduate who owns the property on which Dolphin Pointe Landing is under development.
Dolphin Pointe Health Care is a two-story, 100,000-square-foot, 120-suite building that will be managed by Clear Choice Health Care of Melbourne.
The Alumni House also is on that property.
A Feb. 15 memo from the Pinnacle Service Team communications and training company to the editor of OT Practice Magazine said the first cohort of JU graduate students in occupational therapy will be welcomed to the Alumni House in May.
The house will become known as the Nelson Occupational Therapy Rehabilitation Technology Health Center, or North-C. Dolphin Pointe residents will use the house for transitional training toward independent living.
Occupational training patients also will include pediatrics, orthopedics and others.
Dolphin Pointe is the first of a three-phase project that will include independent living, assisted living, a medical office building, urgent care and a student health center, the memo said.