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HICKORY, N.C. – Patients were coughing, complaining and losing blood rapidly but it was all part of simulated healthcare curriculum.

Students at Catawba Valley Community College demonstrated hands-on healthcare scenarios in a new multi-million dollar simulated hospital classroom.

"This is the largest simulated hospital east of the Mississippi," said North Carolina Community College System President Dr. Scott Ralls.

The entire floor of the Dunbar Building is laid out like a hospital. The surgery room and emergency room provide the adrenaline rushing feeling of a real hospital. Students speak the lingo, follow the medical protocol and work to save the lives of their fake patients.

"They sweat, bleed, convulse, give birth and yes they can even die in an environment as close to the real world as you will ever find," said Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, the president of Catawba Valley Community College.

About 60 percent of North Carolina's nurses are trained in the community college system. The new state-of-the-art facility will help medical students better prepare for obstacles they may meet in the real world.

"Catwba Valley [Community College] is changing the way we teach young people, all people about healthcare," said Governor Bev Perdue who attended Friday's demonstration.