UMKC Breaks Ground on $145M Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building

Posted September 12, 2024

The University of Missouri-Kansas City has begun working on its new $145 million Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building, the school’s largest capital investment in history.

On Wednesday UMKC hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to introduce the new project. The Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building, located on the corner of 25th and Charlotte streets, spans 160,000 square feet standing five stories tall.

The building is set to open in 2026.

The new building will provide students with state-of-the-art education and equipment for dentists and doctors as well as collaborate with surrounding neighborhoods and underprivileged communities.

“As exciting as this new facility is – as exciting as today is – I want to emphasize that this is just the beginning,” UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal said. “This building is the first piece of a much larger vision for our UMKC Health Sciences District.”

UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal gives opening remarks for the Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building. Photo credit: Will Crow.

The four areas housed inside the building will include the UMKC School of Dentistry, Health Equity Institute, Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center and expanded access for students in biomedical engineering.

At the event two students; Jacey Brewer, a junior pursuing a biomedical engineering degree, and Tim Nguyen, a third-year dental student, gave remarks on the new building’s prospects and the opportunities for advancement it will provide.

Brewer is looking to give back to the community by helping design prosthetics for children.

“The proximity to Children’s Mercy is one of the reasons why I chose UMKC, and my dream is to work on designing prosthetics that will change children’s lives and give them their childhood back,” Brewer said.

The new building is poised to create stronger collaboration within the UMKC Health Sciences District which includes healthcare organizations such as University Health and Children’s Mercy.

“The Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building will provide leading-edge pre-doctoral dental clinics, allowing students to serve more patients in need through advanced equipment, expanded hours for acute dental care and the ability to implement teledentistry for those where access to care is limited,” Nguyen said.

The UMKC School of Dentistry serves as the only public dental school in Missouri and addition to providing up to $750,000 in annual uncompensated dental care. The pre-doctoral dental and dental hygiene clinics the new building will feature will be integral to empowering the next generation of dental professionals, Nguyen said.