Mercy College of Health Sciences has been awarded a $650,000 Legacy Grant from Prairie Meadows to support the college’s capital campaign to build the new Joyce E. Lillis School of Nursing, the organizations announced Tuesday.

Mercy announced the $15 million capital campaign in February to build a 24,000-square-foot building on its campus along Seventh Street, just south of Interstate 235 near downtown Des Moines. It received an early boost from Joyce Lillis, a retired nurse, and her husband Terry, who committed $2.5 million to the project.

According to officials at Mercy, progress is being made toward achieving the fundraising goal and construction is still scheduled to begin in early 2026. They declined to say how much has been raised so far but indicated an update will be coming soon.

The Joyce Lillis School of Nursing will replace a 12,000-square-foot building on the Mercy campus that has been vacant since it was deemed unfit for classes and decommissioned in 2018. That building will be razed.

The new building will include the latest technology and equipment to enhance the college’s ability to graduate top students to fill the more than 3,700 openings for nurses listed on the Iowa Workforce Development website.

“This generous support underscores the urgent need for the Joyce E. Lillis School of Nursing and significantly advances our efforts to address Iowa’s nursing shortage. Prairie Meadows is investing not just in bricks and mortar—but in people, in purpose, and in the future of health care across our state,” Dr. Adreain Henry, president of Mercy College of Health Science, said in the release.

According to the news release, a simulation suite in the new building will be named the Prairie Meadows Simulation Lab in recognition of Prairie Meadow’s leadership in advancing health care education in Iowa.

“At Prairie Meadows, we believe in investing in projects that leave a meaningful and lasting impact across Iowa,” Gary Palmer, president and CEO of Prairie Meadows, said in the release. “We’re proud to support Mercy College of Health Sciences as one of our 2025 Legacy Grant recipients and look forward to the difference this partnership will create.”