Health professions advisor Linda Comeau speaks with an NECC student in the new Health Professions@NECC Academic Center in the El-Hefni Center on the Lawrence campus.

When healthcare students reported for classes on the Lawrence campus this week, they were met with a nice surprise – The Center for Health Professions@NECC.

Located, temporarily, in L133 on the first floor of the Dr. Ibrahim El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center at 414 Common St., the new academic center is intended to serve as a “home away from home” said Kathy Welch Hudson, professor and department chair of the healthcare technology and ambulatory services programs.

“The center is meant to be a warm and inviting place for our health students to meet other students, use a computer, print a paper, charge a cell phone, connect with faculty, or make themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The new Health professions academic center in Lawrence is a welcoming space for students to recharge themselves as well as their cell phones.r

This center is the inaugural academic center on the Lawrence campus. Five centers, each designed to meet the needs of students in different educational disciplines, are opening on each campus. The academic centers are in keeping with the newly adopted Integrated Student Experience initiative intended to streamline the educational experience.

“We always worked to give our students a sense of connectedness,” Welch-Hudson says, “Now we can do it even better. We want to be able to put virtual arms around all of our health professions students and make sure they are taking the right classes, are on the right path, and have what they need to succeed.”

A Lunch & Learn Speaker Series will be introduced later this fall and potential employers will be invited in occasionally to make presentations, she says.

The Health Professions Academic Center will be open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For additional information contact centerforhealthprofessions@necc.mass.edu or call 978-655-5936.

Other academic centers that are already open on the Haverhill campus include business & accounting, liberal arts, professional studies, and STEM. Parallel academic centers will eventually be established on the Lawrence campus. For additional information on all the academic centers, visit the webpage.

NECC offers associate degrees and certificates in several health care fields including Business management: healthcare practice, exercise science, health fitness instructor, health specialization, nursing, paramedic technology, public health, radiologic technology, and respiratory care.