Amon G. Carter Foundation donates $250,000 to UT Arlington Smart Hospital

The Amon G. Carter Foundation has donated $250,000 to UT Arlington to support the building of a modernized Smart Hospital for the university, according to a news release.

The Smart Hospital will be housed in the university’s new School of Social Work and College of Nursing and Health Innovation Smart Hospital Building.

The new building, which will move the school of social work from an old Arlington high school building on the north side of campus, is expected to be finished in November. The university broke ground on the project in February last year.

The 150,000 square foot building will make “ushering in a new era of interdisciplinary learning and collaboration” between social work and nursing and health innovation possible, according to the release.

The Amon G. Carter Foundation supported the original Smart Hospital, located in the west end of the campus, in 2006. The Smart Hospital uses simulation-based technology and training to create real-world scenarios, according to the release. The current Smart Hospital building was originally intended to be a temporary space, but has been used for about 14 years.

The donation will be used to expand on teaching in elder care at the undergraduate level by creating a space in the new $76 million building, on the south end of campus, to replicate visits to client homes, according to the release. It will also expand training in the graduate program.

UTA said in a release in 2021 that the current social work building no longer meets demand for growth and renovations would be cost-prohibitive.

The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation is matching donations for the new building dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million, according to UTA.