Kelly Center for Health Sciences at Iona University Bronxville Campus

By Staff

Nov. 20, 2024: Ever since the new Iona University campus opened in Bronxville, people have been wondering, "What's going on on the Bronxville campus?"

Last week, MyhometownBronxville.com had the opportunity to learn all about it in a conversation with Kavita R. Dhanwada, Ph.D., Founding Dean of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, and Diana Costello, Senior Director of Communications at Iona University.

Pictured above (L-R): Kavita R. Dhanwada and Diana Costello

Founded in 1940, Iona acquired the 28-acre Bronxville campus in 2021 under the leadership of President Seamus Carey. Soon thereafter, the university established the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences and got to work building a new school. Today, while no students live on the Bronxville campus, close to 500 students study there.

Seamus Carey, Ph.D., President of Iona University. Read more about Seamus Carey here.

Undergraduate students in Bronxville are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing, health and wellness, social work, and speech-language pathology and audiology. Iona also offers an accelerated bachelor’s degree program in nursing that can be completed in 16 months, geared toward those who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field.

At the graduate level, students on the Bronxville campus are pursuing master’s degrees in nursing education, nursing healthcare organizational leadership, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, occupational therapy, and communication sciences and disorders.

Iona requires all undergraduates to complete a core curriculum. While many of these core courses are held on the New Rochelle campus during freshman and sophomore years, the more specialized health science core requirements are offered in Bronxville.

By the time undergraduate health and science majors reach their junior and senior years, most of their time is spent on the Bronxville campus, accessible via an Iona shuttle that runs between the two campuses. Students in Iona’s health science programs also benefit from clinical placements, including within the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system.

The flagship building of Iona Bronxville is the Kelly Center for Health Sciences. Opened in January 2023, the Kelly Center transformed what was formerly Concordia’s library into a state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary learning environment.

The Kelly Center includes classrooms, lecture halls and the latest laboratory and simulation rooms designed to mimic a hospital setting. Here, students gain hands-on training from experienced faculty, putting their classroom lessons into practice.

For instance, the simulation labs enable nursing majors to practice their skills in a setting that is as close to real life as possible, except that the “patients” are high-fidelity, computerized mannequins. The simulations could include a baby in distress, a person suffering a heart attack, or any other healthcare situation – all controlled by faculty in a live setting. The session is also recorded so that it can be reviewed after the simulation.

During these simulations, students not only work in their own disciplines, but with students in other disciplines as a team. This helps them hone their skills and learn from one another as they work as a team to optimize care for the patient. This is known as interprofessional education.  

Below is a photo of student nurses working with a high-fidelity mannequin during a simulation.

There is also an occupational therapy lab, where students work with patients and guide adult volunteers through tasks such as cooking, bathing, using the bathroom, getting in and out of bed and other essentials of daily life.

Adjacent to the Kelly Center is the newly renovated home of the Iona Family Therapy Center (IFTC), located in Sieker Hall. Here, graduate students in the Marriage & Family Therapy program conduct sessions with clients under the supervision of faculty who are licensed marriage and family therapists.

The IFTC is a nonprofit center that has been in operation for over 40 years, previously in New Rochelle.  The center offers affordable therapy to individuals, children, couples and families. 

Iona President Seamus Carey believes that learning continues in all aspects of life beyond the classroom. In fact, that was another motivating factor behind acquiring the Bronxville campus, so that Iona could expand programming in performing arts, club sports, Division I athletics, and other opportunities where students could engage in activities beyond their academics.

Toward that end, Iona renovated two gymnasiums in Bronxville: one in the Meyer Athletic Center, the other in Schoenfeld Gym, where Iona’s new Division I women’s Acrobatics & Tumbling team practices.

Pictured above: Iona’s new Division I women’s Acrobatics & Tumbling team competing.

Iona also renovated the turf field in Bronxville, providing a new practice field for its sports programs.

Members of Iona University's Division 1 Baseball team on the Bronxville campus field.

Performance spaces in the Sommer Center were also renovated, including a dance studio along with rehearsal and storage spaces. 

At this time, there are no immediate plans for the former Concordia College dormitories.

Finally, Iona is launching lecture events and a speaker series, which are free and open to the public. Here are two upcoming events.

-Symposium on Health and Well-Being: On December 5, at 6 p.m. in the Sommer Center, the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences will host the second lecture in its Symposium on Health and Well-Being, entitled “Health Justice: Building an Equitable Future in Healthcare for All.” Dr. Julia Iyasere, Executive Director of NewYork-Presbyterian’s Dalio Center for Health Justice, will lead a compelling discussion. RSVP here.

-Presidential Speaker Series: On February 26 at 6:30 p.m., Princeton University professor D. Graham Burnett will discuss the topic of attention and how it influences and informs our lives in a world full of seemingly endless notifications. The event will take place in the Sommer Center. RSVP here.

There will be additional events coming up throughout the year. 

Photos courtesy Iona University Bronxville