
Today Governor Mark Dayton and other policymakers joined University of Minnesota leaders to officially break ground on a new Health Sciences Education Center. The Education Center will play a vital role in educating and training the next generation of health professionals who will provide high quality care to Minnesota.
Demolition and utility work has already begun at the building site, located at the corner of Harvard and Delaware streets SE, Minneapolis on the University’s East Bank Campus. Construction is expected to be complete in December 2019.
The project is made possible with support from Governor Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Legislature. The State of Minnesota invested $66.7 million in construction as part of its 2017 special session bonding bill. The University, along with support from donors, will fund an additional $33.3 million in construction costs. Predesign and design from reallocated TCF Bank Stadium bond proceeds totaled $8.6 million. The total cost of the project is $108.6 million.
“Our new Health Sciences Education Center is testament to the Governor’s and Legislature’s extraordinary commitment to health sciences education in our state,” said University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler. “It is much needed, and will advance the University’s mission to prepare Minnesota’s diverse and innovative health care workforce.”
University alumni make up more than 70 percent of the state’s health care professionals. Combining technology with new ways of teaching, the Education Center will enable the University to train the next generation of care providers to meet Minnesota’s changing health care needs. As health care changes, industry leaders are searching for graduates who are able to work effectively as teams and collaborate across health professions.
“This new facility will help Minnesota develop the next generation of world-class medical professionals, to meet our future health care challenges and improve the well-being of all our communities,” said Governor Dayton. “By investing in modern facilities at our colleges and universities, we can improve economic opportunities for Minnesotans and support a growing economy. I urge the Legislature to work with me this session to make significant, needed investments in the maintenance and repair of our higher education institutions throughout Minnesota.”
Comprising more than 200,000 square feet, the Education Center will be one of the most comprehensive interprofessional education facilities in the country. The facility will provide a unifying space for interdisciplinary work across specialty areas and programs. It will include active learning classrooms, a simulation center, the Bio-Medical Library and other student and visitor services for all health sciences schools.
As part of construction, improvements will also be made to the existing Phillips-Wangensteen Building (PWB), which connects the Education Center to adjacent buildings that house most of the health sciences schools. Along with accessibility, mechanical and electrical infrastructure upgrades, PWB will house open study spaces, small group study rooms, break out spaces for team collaboration, classrooms ranging in size from 16-64 seats, a teaching visualization lab and faculty commons, computer work stations, library consultation rooms and more.
The Education Center will be a state-of-the-art facility that will play a vital role in educating students from the six University of Minnesota colleges and schools that make up one of the most comprehensive Academic Health Centers in the country: the School of Dentistry, Medical School, School of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health and the College of Veterinary Medicine. More than 6,200 health sciences students are educated at the University each year.
“Interprofessional practice and training is a consistent request from community, academic and industry leaders,” said Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Medical School Dean and Interim Vice President for Health Sciences. “We look forward to educating health sciences students in a new state-of-the-art facility where we hope to set the national standard for interactive, engaged health education and training.”
The general contractor is JE Dunn Construction. Perkins+Will and SLAM are co-design architects and Perkins+Will is also Architect of Record on the project.
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For additional information about this project, visit the Health Sciences Education Center website at z.umn.edu/HSEducationCenter.
Renderings are available to view and download at z.umn.edu/HSECrenderings.
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