UC Merced regents approve construction of $300M medical education facility
University of California, Merced regents have approved the construction of a new medical education building on campus, according to the university.
The regents gave final approval Wednesday and a vote approved the full budget and financing for the building, along with the final design and California Environmental Quality Act findings. According to the university, the project is expected to cost $300 million. Funding will come from the campus budget, donor gifts and state General Fund appropriations.
“We are very pleased by the Regents’ show of support for the medical education at UC Merced,” UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said in a news release. “The lack of quality healthcare options in the region is well documented, and this new building will enable UC Merced to train physicians uniquely qualified to address the Valley’s health needs.”
According to UC Merced, the four-story building will comply with its sustainable practices policy and will have 203,500 square feet of academic office, research and community-facing space as well as common and instructional space. The building will be the home to the university’s medical education pathway that was developed in partnership with UCSF and UCSF Fresno. The program’s first students began classes in the fall of 2023.
The university said the new facility will also house the Health Sciences Research Institute, Allied healthcare-related programs, department of Psychological Sciences and Public Health and specialty learning spaces as well as medical education and general assignment learning environments. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin during the spring of 2024 and be completed by fall of 2026. According to UC Merced, the facility is expected to serve about 2,220 undergraduate students by the year 2030.
