HED blended both education and healthcare design in the realization of the Health Occupations Center located in Santee, California.

Having successfully worked together many times on a variety of education projects, the Gross Union High School District turned to HED with a unique challenge, to replace structurally inadequate modular buildings with replacements that would inspire industry standard adult health careers education.

Leveraging HED’s understanding of both education and healthcare best practices, the team designed state-of-the-art medical training labs for adult education in attaining credentials in a variety of technical education fields, including: Dental Assistant, Certified Nursing Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Vocational Nursing, EMT, and Phlebotomy.

Managing funds was one of the district’s greatest challenges on this project, so the design had to reflect quality while remaining affordable. The existing 20-year-old modular buildings had structural damage that were not worthy of repair, so HED and the district decided to replace them with two new permanent buildings.

The new 16,670 SF complex consists of labs, vocational classrooms, and support spaces that reflect the industry standard in adult health careers training and promote quality affordable education.

Design: HED
Photography: Mike Torrey