Wichita State University and the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita’s joint biomedical campus will become the latest new development in downtown Wichita after the City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with the schools.
The memorandum was approved at Tuesday’s council meeting to either sell or lease two parcels of land owned by the city near the new culinary school at Broadway and William and at the nearby downtown Transit Center, which isset to move to the Delano neighborhood.
The city will also provide parking for the campus.
The schools say the partnership will address the health needs of the community and people statewide.
“Pooling the collective resources and successes of Wichita State, WSU Tech and the University of Kansas will ultimately improve the way health care professionals are educated; and, in turn, improve patient outcomes for all Kansans,” Wichita State President Rick Muma said in a news release.
The campus is also expected to bring in millions of dollars in economic development opportunities in the area. An estimate from the Greater Wichita Partnership says that $100 million in new investment will occur in the next seven to 10 years as a result of the campus.
“This bold development by WSU and KU Med provides significant benefits not only for these academic institutions, but for the citizens of the city of Wichita, the region and also the state by advancing medical care, fostering innovation, creating new academic and business partnerships and certainly leveraging economic development,” said the partnership’s president, Jeff Fluhr, at the council meeting.
The more than $300 million campus will centralize the schools’ health care programs, including WSU Tech, in Wichita.
The campus will bring together WSU’s College of Health Professions, WSU Tech’s Health Professions program and KU’s medical and pharmacy schools into a single location. The schools will have shared spaces for advanced laboratories, clinical research and technology.
“This new facility, along with the combined strengths of the KU and Wichita State University professional health programs, means that future students will benefit from the latest technologies and teaching modalities,” said Dr. Robert Simari, executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center, in a news release.
The schools have received more than $200 million from the state through various funding to begin construction on the campus.
Construction is expected to begin early next year and be completed by 2026.
Officials think about 3,000 students and 200 faculty and staff will use the center when it opens, with opportunities for future expansion.
