Maury Regional Medical Center has committed $145,000 to the College of Nursing (CON) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to name the Basic to Advanced Lab in the Simulation & Learning Innovation Center (SLIC). Celebrating the new partnership on April 18, 2025, are, from left, Colby Nance, SLIC specialist; Dr. Azita Amiri, CON professor and associate dean for research; Tiffany Crews, director of nursing professional development, Maury Regional; Dr. Charles Karr, UAH president; Jeff Pierce, director, human resources, Maury Regional; Dr. Karen Frith, dean, CON; Dr. David Puleo, UAH provost; Jenny Robertson, human resources lead business partner, nursing, Maury Regional; Dr. Yeow Chye Ng, CON professor and interim associate dean of graduate programs; Dr. Helen Lien, UAH senior development officer, CON, and Mary Deason, SLIC manager.
Michael Mercier | UAH
Nurses really matter at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee, and the College of Nursing at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). This shared priority fostered a relationship that led to a $145,000 commitment from the hospital to the college to name the Basic to Advanced Lab in the Simulation Learning & Innovation Center (SLIC). UAH is a part of The University of Alabama System.
The Maury gift creates the College of Nursing’s first room naming within the SLIC. The Maury Lab, previously known as the Bed Lab, is a 16-bed mock hospital that provides realistic clinical experiences for student nurses and community partners. The lab is the largest room in SLIC’s 10,615-square-foot state-of-the-art facility.
“This is an important day for Maury Regional and for UAH,” said Jeff Pierce, Maury Regional’s director of human resources, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 18.
“We are purposeful in who we look to partner with because not all organizations are the same. It is our privilege and our honor to partner with The University of Alabama in Huntsville College of Nursing. The alignment that I see toward people, toward individuals, is really the foundation of our relationship.”
The two Maury representatives who first visited UAH – Tiffany Crews, director of nursing professional development, and Jenny Robertson, human resources lead business partner, nursing – joined Pierce for the celebration. Their initial reaction, he recalled, set a strong tone for the relationship.
“When Jenny and Tiffany first visited here, they were blowing up my phone with pictures and text messages,” he said. “After they came back to Columbia, they continued to share how aligned we seem to be as organizations with our values and the things that are important to us. That alignment is critical for us in seeking out partnerships.”
As Maury Regional researched the UAH nursing program, a few highlights stood out, including Let’s Pretend Hospital, an educational program for first graders that began in 1985.
“When I read about that program,” Pierce said, “it confirmed the values and the character of this organization and how aligned they are with Maury and what we stand for and what we try to do.”
UAH’s 100% pass rate for nursing students – two years running – impressed them, too.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into that,” he said. “We’re going after that level of excellence. Without reservation, Maury Regional is proud to have this partnership, and we look forward to the great things that can be had through this effort over many years ahead.”
Maury Regional brings an outstanding reputation of its own to the UAH partnership. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) awarded the hospital its second Magnet recognition earlier this year because of its commitment to exceptional health care and the well-being of its nurses. This credential is the highest national honor for nursing practice.
“We’re really proud to have our name affiliated with Maury Regional Medical Center,” UAH President Dr. Charles Karr said at the celebration. “This is an endorsement. When we bring young people to this campus, and they see names of great organizations like yours on the wall, it tells them and their parents, ‘We endorsed this place.’ You can endorse the UAH College of Nursing with great confidence. We have fine young people who would represent you very well.”
Dr. Karen Frith, dean, UAH College of Nursing, attended Maury’s last Magnet designation meeting. That experience confirmed her opinion that Maury would be a good place for her nursing graduates to work.
“Every educator who was in that meeting talked about how great the hospital and the nurses are,” she said. “This is where I would love for our students to go because they care about nurses and the work of nurses to improve patient care through evidence-based practice. Their average length of service is over 10 years. That means they’re doing something right, and their culture supports nursing care and nurses.”
The naming of the Maury Lab formalizes the partnership, but it’s just the beginning of the collaboration.
“I have been delighted to have this relationship build over time,” Frith said. “Every time we meet, we find more things that we can do together.
“My heart is full of gratitude today. I want to thank you for that vision of partnering with the College of Nursing and to continue to make wonderful changes in health care as we move forward as stewards of our organizations.”