The University of Kansas Medical Center today opened a new $82 million health education building on its campus at 39th and Rainbow Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas.
The new 170,000-square-foot building will provide space for the schools of medicine, nursing and health professions in interprofessional classrooms and training areas, according to a KU official. The project has been in the works for years, with the groundbreaking two years ago.
All three schools will move into the new building, which will include space for students in the professions to work together in simulated high-tech patient rooms, simulated home care and a simulated operating room, a spokesman said.
“This building is the first in which medical, nursing and health professions faculty will work together to teach students from all three schools, practicing together during simulation training and giving all students real-world experience working as a team to improve patient outcomes,” said Dr. Douglas A. Girod, chancellor of the University of Kansas.
The project was funded with $26 million from the state of Kansas, $21 million from the University of Kansas Medical Center and the remainder with private gifts raised through KU Endowment, including a $25 million lead gift from the Hall Family Foundation.
“On behalf of the state government of Kansas, we are proud to have supported this project and to have matched the generous donation of the Hall Family Foundation,” said Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is also a medical doctor, in a news release. “All of these students – in medicine, nursing and the health professions – will have the opportunity to learn about each other, while working in realistic clinical and hospital settings, putting them ahead of the curve once they graduate and enter the workforce serving our Kansas communities.”
The new facility includes simulation equipment and facilities that will significantly expand the Zamierowski Institute for Experiential Learning, funded with a lead gift from David and Marilyn Zamierowski of Overland Park, Kansas, a spokesman stated. ZIEL has a second location in Sudler Hall on the KU Medical Center campus.
“As technology evolves and the science of teaching continues to change, we are prepared now with a flexible, high-tech facility that can change with it,” said Dr. Robert D. Simari, interim executive vice chancellor of KU Medical Center and executive dean for the KU School of Medicine. “We look forward to educating doctors, nurses and health care professionals in a space that will meet our needs now and in the future.”
Helix, a Kansas City-based architecture firm, and CO Architects, a Los Angeles-based architecture firm, served as the design team on the project. McCownGordon was the project’s general contractor. Students are expected in the new facility July 24.
– Information and photo from KU Medical Center