JULY 2, 2025 – GREENSBORO, NC — North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s School of Nursing will unveil its two new mobile care units with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by a community health fair Saturday, July 19.

The free events will take place rain or shine on University Circle, in front of the February One monument and Dudley Memorial Building, and in Noble Hall, which houses N.C. A&T’s School of Nursing – part of the John R. and Kathy R. Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences.

The community health fair is in collaboration with the Center of Excellence for Integrative Health Disparities and Equity Research (CIHDER).

Registration will be from 9:30 to 10 a.m., followed by the dedication, ceremony and program overview.

Each of the 37-foot mobile units is part of the Clinical Advancement & Resources for Expanding Nursing Education & Simulation, or NCAT C.A.R.E.S., program, which is designed to expand clinical experiences for nursing students.

“The mobile care units are a great new resource to the School of Nursing and will significantly enhance clinical training for nursing students  in underserved and rural community settings,” said Elimelda Moige Ongeri, Ph.D., Hairston College dean. “Additionally, it creates opportunities for partnerships with other university entities, such as CIHDER, and community stakeholders to advance health education on conditions that disproportionately burden the communities we serve.”

One unit, equipped with two private examination rooms, will be dedicated to expanding the School of Nursing capacity of clinical education, training and experiences for nursing students and practicing nurses using technology and simulation.

“It will be equipped with simulation equipment, technologies and patient scenarios that will allow our traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Doctoral of Nursing Practice students to participate in these clinical experiences,” said Tiffany Morris, DNP, M.S. Ed., MSN, BSN, director of nursing and Clara Ender Adam-Ender Endowed Associate Professor of Nursing.

The other mobile unit will give the school the ability to further expand nursing students’ clinical education, training and experiences through direct hands-on opportunities by providing health education and services to the members of the community.

“The Community Outreach mobile unit also is equipped with two private examination rooms as well as a handicap accessible ramp for those with disabilities and a lab chair for collecting blood specimens for testing and screening,” said Morris. “As we thought about the future expansion of our nursing programs, the mobile unit will have the capacity to collect blood specimens for health screenings and provide privacy for health examinations and interviews if needed.”

The participation of nursing students in the services afforded by both mobile units provides uniquely different but necessary experiences that will allow them to obtain required clinical and practicum hours needed for their educational degrees and simultaneously provide the needed health education and services to the community.

“One of our goals is to reach rural communities that are faced with many barriers to optimal health as a result of challenges related to social drivers of health, such as lack transportation,” said Angelo Moore, Ph.D., CIHDER executive director. “N.C. A&T State University has established trust with underserved communities in the state of North Carolina. We will leverage this trust to provide appropriate health education, health services, and opportunities to participate in research that ultimately improves community health.”

The community health fair, scheduled from 10:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., will include tours of the mobile units, educational presentations and resources on topics including diabetes, high blood pressure, sickle cell disease, HIV, physical activity, healthy eating and nutrition, vaccinations, breast health, men’s health, brain and mental health, oral health, and community health programs. Free health and dental screenings, opportunities to enroll in the Guilford County Federal Qualified Health Center, massage and nursing simulation demonstrations also will be offered and vendors will be on site.

The celebration will conclude with a book signing by Clifford Ray Jr., a retired professional basketball player and coach who won an NBA title in 1975 with the Golden State Warriors coached by Al Attles Sr. ’60 and whose father, Clifford Ray Sr., also is an A&T alumnus.

Ray, a cancer survivor, will autograph copies of the children’s book, “Big Clifford Ray Saves the Day,” a limited number of which will be available for free. The book is a biography told in a series of poems that also details when he saved a bottlenose dolphin named Doctor Spock in 1978.