THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY announced a $30 million gift from the Sunderland Foundation to help fund a new building in the UMKC Health Sciences District to house state-of-the-art dental teaching clinics and expanded medical school teaching facilities.
The project will escalate momentum for expanding the district into a major regional academic medical center that can provide innovative health care, attract top medical students and researchers and generate billions of dollars in jobs and economic development, while advancing care for the underserved.
The multi-story, $120 million Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building will also provide space for the UMKC Health Equity Institute, the university’s Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center and its new Biomedical Engineering program.
“We are grateful to the Sunderland Foundation for their investment in taking the Health Sciences District to the next level, spearheading an academic medical center with extraordinary community benefits,” said UMKC Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal. “This gift by a local foundation that supports making big positive change in Kansas City is an investment, not just in a building, but in a truly big, longer-term vision. We believe our new building will escalate momentum to exponentially expand the Health Sciences District in coming years to become the major regional academic medical center that we know it can be.”
Gov. Mike Parson, who in July signed legislation from the state of Missouri to appropriate $40 million for the building, said the appropriation came with a challenge to the Kansas City community to raise the additional funds needed.
“We are proud to support the efforts of UMKC to improve educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math to expand health-care access in the state of Missouri, particularly in rural areas,” Parson said. “Missourians will reap the benefits of increased collaboration between health-care services and the data science and biomedical engineering programs that will share the building. This partnership could help further health outcomes through new, innovative solutions right here in Missouri.”
“The Sunderland Foundation is proud to give to UMKC’s efforts to transform the Health Science District,” said Kent Sunderland, chairman of the Sunderland Foundation. “The cutting-edge facilities will provide innovative training opportunities for tomorrow’s doctors, dentists and healthcare leaders who will improve prosperity in our neighborhoods, cities and state. The Sunderland Foundation and UMKC share a mission of caring for the underserved and lifting neighborhoods.”
Dental clinics in the new building will be supported with the most modern technology, making UMKC competitive with top schools across the country. The interprofessional medical building will provide education space for the next generation of dentists to deliver better care at lower costs, while expanding dental emergency services and making first-rate dental care more accessible to the community.