ALBUQUERQUE, NM – UNM leaders celebrated the opening of the College of Nursing and Public Health Building of Excellence on Friday.

The 93,000-square-foot building houses classrooms, offices, community centers and research labs.

“With this new facility opening and the nurses coming out, the health workers coming out, it’s great. It’s a hope that everyone looks forward to,” said Yolanda Ulmer, CEO of District 1199 NM.

The union represents hospital and health care workers in our state.

“Nurses are tired of the hospitals that we represent, nurses are very tired of trying to keep it together and keep going,” Ulmer said.

This is because our state is approximately 6,000 nurses short, which means full workloads for those who care for our community.

“Will they work alone? Will they have seven, eight, nine patients to one nurse? Ulmer said.

But UNM leaders say the state-of-the-art building will help by attracting health care workers and providing resources to train more students in nursing and public health.

“It gives us educational facilities to be able to expand class sizes and creates new research space for health professionals in the college of nursing and the college of population health,” said Dr. Mike Richards of the UNM Health Sciences Center .

General bonds, university money and donors paid for the $43 million building.