$1 million donation to fund simulation lab for CSUB nursing students
Jun. 20—Cal State Bakersfield will have a new simulation lab for its Family Nurse Practitioner Program thanks to a $1 million donation from Dr. Uma R. Varanasi and Sita Varanasi.
Simulation labs enable nursing students to practice their clinical skills in a safe environment. The donation will establish the lab named in the Varanasis' honor for students in CSUB's graduate program as well as fund equipment and operations.
Each class in CSUB's Family Nurse Practitioner Program has 20 graduate students who study for two years to become nurse practitioners. It's the only program of its kind for 100 miles, so it plays a vital role in the region, according to Todd McBride, interim dean of the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering.
The Varanasis' donation has important implications for Kern County, he said.
"We're under-staffed countywide for health care professionals," he said. "The more that we can do to train people in our area, the better we can do to meet our needs."
Out-of-town health professionals, he said, don't always tend to stick around. Home-grown nurse practitioners do. The program has graduated 68 nurse practitioners since 2014, and more than 90 percent remained in the region, according to a news release from CSUB.
This new simulation lab will enable CSUB to be at the forefront of technology in its program, McBride said. He added that the university's program is on track to expand and become a Doctor of Nursing Practice program.
As a nephrologist, Dr. Uma Varanasi is intimately aware of the importance of supporting future health care workers. He and his wife have also donated to CSUB in the past; they gave $100,000 to the Guardian Scholars Program, which helps former foster youth.
"We have been here for 41 years and I have been successful — but being successful is not the only criteria in life," he said, according to a news release. "We wanted to be of some value to the community where we spent more than half of our life."
