Public to see inside Bronson Healthy Living Campus at open house

The community is invited to see what has grown as a result of the partnership between Bronson Healthcare, Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. 

An open house is set for 2-5 p.m. Sunday, April 24 so the community can view three buildings that are part of the new Bronson Healthy Living Campus.

The three organizations decided to work together in May 2013. Since then a 14-acre campus with state-of-the art buildings and unique educational programs that bring together health, food, environmental sustainability, and economic and community development has gone up. 

At the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Food Innovation Center,  224 E. Crosstown Parkway, visitors will be able to see the live wall in the visitors’ center covered with plants. Tiny sprouts of microgreens--radishes, cabbage, kale, cilantro and basil will offer a glimpse of what’s will be growing there. The grow room will house hydroponic and aquaponic growing systems, and a space-saving, vertically stacked growing rack system that’s popular in dense urban areas.

In the Culinary/Allied Health Building at 418 East Walnut Street, visitors will be able to create their own “healthy plate” and learn more about diet and nutrition in the Community Education Kitchen. Full access will available to modern "simulation" labs on the third floor and visitors will see what it is like to learn in a teaching brewery on the second floor. Kalamazoo Valley’s Menus That Matter curriculum in Culinary Arts and Sustainable Food Systems also will be on display.

The campus will be the new home to KVCC’s healthcare programs that include Nursing, Respiratory Care Practitioner, and Emergency Medical Technology. This new location provides a closer link to Bronson for clinical rotations and to Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker, M.D. School of Medicine and KCMHSAS Integrated Clinic.

Other activities scheduled to celebrate the campus opening include “Tasting Kalamazoo History: Favorite Dishes and Recipes from Our Rich Midwestern Heritage” at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Shuttles will be available between all three buildings on the Bronson Healthy Living Campus and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on April 24.

For more information visit here. 

Source: Kalamazoo Valley Community College