The University of Missouri-Kansas City at a Tuesday event revealed the design of its largest capital investment to date: the $120 million Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building. UMKC expects to break ground next year on this new building, with key funding from the state of Missouri and visionary Kansas City donors coming together to support this cornerstone project that will launch a new era for the UMKC Health Sciences District and health-care access. The six-story 200,000-square-foot building will be constructed on what is now a parking lot at 25th and Charlotte streets. The project will enable the university to provide state-of-the-art education for the next generation of health-care providers, find newer and better ways to serve patients in need, strengthen collaborations with surrounding neighborhoods and facilitate greater interdisciplinary partnerships to fuel innovation and research.

“The new Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building will be one of a kind,” said UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal. “We know of only one other combined medical and dental education building in the nation, and none other that will include what ours will with a unique combination of collaborative programs focused on elevating health care.”

UMKC will house key assets in the building for the following programs:

UMKC School of Dentistry. UMKC is a regional leader in dental education with the only public dental school in the states of Missouri and Kansas. The new building will provide leading-edge pre-doctoral dental clinics, enhancing our ability to graduate top-notch dentists. The new space also means students can serve more patients in need through advanced equipment, greater efficiency, expanded hours for acute dental care and the ability to implement teledentistry. Currently, the School of Dentistry provides $750,000 annually in uncompensated dental care for the community. The new facility will house UMKC’s acute dental care programs – such as oral surgery, endodontics and emergency procedures – plus program space for radiology, lab work and a high-tech dental design lab to produce crowns, bridges and implants.

UMKC School of Medicine. UMKC has the highest-ranked public medical school in Missouri for primary care. The new facility will allow the School of Medicine to provide cutting-edge simulation labs, including dedicated space to practice essential medical procedures; a full-scale operating room and patient exam rooms to practice patient communication and care. The collaborative learning spaces for students encourage a culture of communication and better prepare them to work with colleagues in their professional lives.

UMKC Health Equity Institute. The institute brings together researchers, government and community organizations to improves the lives of the underserved and bridge health-care gaps. The institute combines its research strengths with community groups’ grassroots involvement to identify, quantify and reduce those gaps. In the new building, researchers will collaborate to tackle health disparities and provide access to health care with initiatives including Our Healthy Jackson County that brings free vaccines, health screenings and other resources into neighborhoods and places of worship. The institute’s new space will include a kitchen lab to teach healthy meal preparation.

UMKC biomedical engineering. In the new building, doctors, dentists and engineers will work side by side, creating faster, more effective collaboration between science, engineering and the medical world. Product development will accelerate in areas such as medical implants, imaging technology and surgery tools, and UMKC can expand access to the in-demand biomedical engineering degree program with potential global impact. On average, a single engineering position creates 1.5 staff jobs and brings 2.5 households to the Kansas City area, positively impacting Kansas City’s economy.

Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center. In partnership with MU and other University of Missouri System universities, UMKC leads a center focused on creating new advances in data sciences and analytics. The new space in the building will provide the center opportunities to focus the power of data science on transforming the way we personalize health care. The data center within the new facility will provide high-performance computing for industry, government and nonprofit organizations within our region to solve data-intensive computing problems.

University Health. Our clinical partner will occupy two floors of the new building for office space.

The project is close to being fully funded:

• Included in the last two budgets from Governor Mike Parson and passed by the Missouri General Assembly, the state of Missouri has committed $60 million,
• The Sunderland Foundation has pledged $30 million,
• The Hall Family Foundation will contribute $15 million and
• $10 million will come from federal funding secured by former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt.

Groundbreaking will occur in 2024 with project completion expected in 2026.