The Oklahoma State Legislature has approved $5 million in pandemic relief funds to assist Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) with establishing a new rural healthcare center on the Weatherford campus. The center will also become the new home of the SWOSU College of Pharmacy.
The $5 million was included in Oklahoma House Bill 1188 and enacted into law in May 2023.
These funds will supplement the $10 million SWOSU previously received in the $55 million healthcare workforce training plan adopted by the Legislature and enacted into law in May 2022.
The plan aims at increasing the number of healthcare professionals in Oklahoma.
SWOSU’s funds are part of the $1.8 billion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding granted to Oklahoma and will assist in the building of the Jerry and Margaret Hodge Pharmacy and Rural Health Center.
“The Oklahoma Legislature has asked institutions of higher education like SWOSU to step up and help meet the healthcare workforce needs of Oklahoma,” SWOSU President Dr. Diana Lovell said. “SWOSU views this charge as a core tenet of our public service mission and why we stand firmly on the Hilltop.”
SWOSU will combine the total of $15 million in ARPA funding with $5 million in private support already received from SWOSU alumnus Jerry Hodge and his wife, Margaret, of Amarillo (TX). The Hodges’ contribution, which was announced in 2021, represents the largest charitable gift in SWOSU history. An additional $7 million in support will be provided via the Yes! Weatherford economic development sales tax extension initiative, which was approved by Weatherford voters in 2020.
The Hodge Center project will enable SWOSU’s healthcare programs in nursing and allied health to substantially increase capacity and will significantly enhance the university’s renowned pharmacy doctoral program. The building will also expand the community health services of the SWOSU Center for Rural Health. The center will allow for more strategic partnerships with other higher education institutions.
“SWOSU has worked with our generous supporters in the city of Weatherford and with our involved, visionary philanthropic benefactors Jerry and Margaret Hodge— to whom we are abidingly and deeply grateful—to steward this pandemic relief funding in a way that will transform all of SWOSU’s healthcare programs,” Lovell said.
The additional $5 million SWOSU will receive pursuant to House Bill 1188 will enable the university to continue its progress on construction of Hodge Center while also helping mitigate the negative impacts of inflation and price increases due to shortages of labor and materials.
“We are truly grateful to Senator Chuck Hall and Representative Kyle Hilbert for their strong commitment to seeing ARPA funds stewarded prudently and in a way that yields workforce wins for Oklahomans throughout our state,” Lovell said. “We are also so thankful to our SWOSU delegation in the Legislature including Senators Brent Howard, Darcy Jech, and Jack Stewart and Representatives Anthony Moore, Mike Dobrinski, Tammy West, Nick Archer, and Rhonda Baker for their vision and focus in continuing to make historic investments in Oklahoma’s healthcare programs. We sincerely commend and thank President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and Speaker Charles McCall for their leadership and service to SWOSU as we seek to deliver results for the people in our state.”
A groundbreaking ceremony for Hodge Center was held in June 2022. Longtime SWOSU partners MA+ Architects are the Hodge Center architects, and Joe D. Hall Construction, LLC, is the Hodge Center construction manager. Construction is currently estimated to be completed in Summer/Fall 2025.
For more information, please contact the SWOSU Office of the President at 580-774-3766 or visit www. SWOSU.edu.
