Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences names academic building in honor of Gov. Kay Ivey

Gov. Kay Ivey returned to Demopolis Thursday to see the progress of a school she envisioned for rural Alabama students to find out that its academic building will bear her name.

The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences announced during an emotional ceremony that its academic building will be named the Kay Ivey Academy, honoring the governor whose vision helped bring the specialized residential high school to Demopolis. 

The announcement came before state and local dignitaries, school supporters and the school's inaugural class of 75 freshmen and sophomores. The ceremony was held inside what will become the school's auditorium, surrounded by construction still underway on the campus. ASHS opened in August with students attending University of West Alabama until construction is complete for students to live at the 10-acre Demopolis campus starting in fall 2027.

Several speakers became emotional as they reflected on the years of work required to establish the school and the opportunities it will provide for future generations of Alabama students.

ASHS Foundation Chairman Kirk Stephens announced that the foundation's board had voted unanimously to name the academic building in Ivey's honor.

Ivey, who attended the school's groundbreaking a year ago, told the students they are making history as the first class of a school designed to prepare young people for careers in healthcare.

"Each of you is in the vanguard of the next generation. You're the first to blaze this new trail and leave your mark of success with generations who will follow," Ivey said.

The school is designed to develop the next generation of healthcare professionals and is intentionally located in a rural setting of Demopolis within a walk away from Whitfield Regional Hospital where they will undergo training. The goal is to address workforce shortages, particularly in rural Alabama, where access to medical care remains a challenge.

The idea for the school started in 2023, when Ivey proposed establishing a specialized healthcare sciences high school in Demopolis. Rob Pearson, vice president of strategic partnerships for the ASHS Foundation, said Demopolis had to get on board for the idea and make it come to a reality.

The effort required establishing a foundation, conducting a feasibility study, securing funding and gaining support from state legislators. Pearson said the region had seen ambitious ideas come and go before, leaving some residents skeptical that another major project would become reality.

But community leaders and supporters continued working toward the goal.

"There is something very special in this room today. I think you've all gotten a sense of that. There are people here who have fought for this school. There are people who have helped build it. There are people who have supported it, and there are people who have believed in this school long before dirt ever started moving out here," Pearson said.

He said the effort was rooted in a belief that students in rural communities deserve the same opportunities available elsewhere in Alabama.

"We believe that young people from rural Alabama deserve extraordinary opportunities. We believe West Alabama could help provide an answer for some of our state's greatest healthcare challenges. You believe something transformational could happen here, and perhaps more importantly, you believe this community could be trusted with something important."

State Finance Director Bill Poole, a Demopolis native, described the project as a milestone for both the state and the Black Belt region.

"This school represents something much larger than a new educational institution. It represents opportunity, opportunity for young people from rural communities to receive an extraordinary and specialized education, opportunity to develop the next generation of healthcare professionals, opportunity to strengthen rural hospitals and healthcare delivery, opportunity to expose more people to the strength and fabric of our rural communities, an opportunity here in Demopolis and the surrounding Black Belt region to become a center of education excellence, innovation, and economic opportunity," Poole said.

"It is a bold vision, and one that reflects Governor Ivey's enduring belief in the potential of this region and its people."

State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey said the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is the second specialized residential school to open during Ivey's 10-year administration, bringing the state's total to four.

"You know this is a part of the governor's overall vision for how we move Alabama into the next coming decade and decades beyond that by being a leader in everything from information technology to healthcare sciences," Mackey said.

"So we've been growing this program for 50 years, but she has doubled it in her 10 years as governor, and that says something about her leadership because she's so committed to the young people who stand before us," he said.

For Head of School Laura Bailey, the ceremony was particularly meaningful because the school's mission recently became personal. While working in Demopolis in August, Bailey developed appendicitis and required treatment at Whitfield Regional Hospital.

"I came away with an even greater sense of responsibility for the work that we are doing right here, because behind every conversation about healthcare access is a real person, a real family, at a moment when having the right healthcare professional nearby can make all the difference. And that's why this school matters," Bailey said.

She then turned her attention to the 75 students seated before her.

"Somewhere in Alabama today, there is a family who will one day need a healthcare professional who hasn't even begun their career. That professional could be one of you sitting in this room," Bailey said.

"You may not even know it yet, but the education that you are receiving here could someday change someone's life and perhaps even save it."

One of the ceremony's most emotional moments came from freshman Ellie Pemberton of Eclectic, Alabama, who spoke about leaving home to attend the new school and pursue her dream of becoming a physician. Pemberton said her father, a surgical nurse, inspired her interest in healthcare and the human body.

"My dad is in healthcare, and it has inspired me so much. I'm always fascinated how the human body works and how these different systems work together," she said.

Pemberton said she hopes to become an OB-GYN and a traveling physician, combining her passion for medicine with a desire to help others.

The new 10-acre campus is designed by Caldwell Architects and built by Brasfield & Gorrie. It includes a three-story academic building, in which the ceremony was held, and a five-story residential building that is the tallest building in Demopolis.