Forsyth Technical Community College will celebrate the opening of a 20,000 sq. ft addition to Bob Greene Hall, home of the college’s nursing and allied health programs. The official opening will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, September 24.

At the event, two community leaders, who were influential in bringing about the expansion of both the nursing program and the allied health programs, will be honored. These program areas will now be known as the Len B. Preslar, Jr. School of Allied Health and the Paul M. Wiles School of Nursing.

Len Preslar is the retired chief executive officer of N.C. Baptist Hospitals, Inc., an institution he served for 38 years. Under his leadership the hospital greatly expanded its patient services and its facilities. Mr. Preslar is now Executive Director of the Health Management Program at Wake Forest University Schools of Business.

Paul Wiles has been president and chief executive officer of Novant Health since 1997. He began his career with Forsyth Memorial Hospital in 1974 and went on to serve as CEO of Carolina Medicorp and Forsyth Memorial Hospital.

“Paul Wiles and Len Preslar have been visionary leaders in the growth of Winston-Salem’s two major medical centers,” said Forsyth Tech President Dr. Gary M. Green. “They have also been visionary in their support of the training of the growing number of nurses and allied health professionals our region needs. This state-of-the-art addition would not have come into being without the outstanding support of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and Novant Health.”

The newest addition, which cost $2.3 million and contributes to a total of 70,000 sq. ft. of educational space in Bob Greene Hall, includes a computer lab, larger classrooms, office space and a catheterization lab for the state’s only associate degree program in Interventional Cardiovascular Technology. Since the opening of the first phase of Bob Greene Hall in 1991, N.C. Baptist Hospital and Novant Health have contributed over $16 million of support to Forsyth Tech’s nursing and allied health programs.

The expanded facility has allowed Forsyth Tech to introduce new program offerings and increase student enrollment in some of the most frequently chosen courses of study at Forsyth Tech.

Forsyth Tech has the largest Health Technology program of any community college in North Carolina.

Bob Greene Hall, named for a previous president of Forsyth Tech, is on the Main Campus, at 2100 Silas Creek Parkway. The public is invited to attend the opening ceremony.