School of Dentistry teams up to create UMKC Health Sciences District

Posted on by Bill Marse

 Unlike Any Other in the Nation

 UMKC School of Dentistry and nine other leading Kansas City health-care institutions team up to create UMKC Health Sciences District

With a collaboration unlike any other in the nation, many of Kansas City’s leading health-care institutions announced that they have agreed to align more closely to form the UMKC Health Sciences District. The newly created district combines the unique expertise and services of 10 partners to spur research and community outreach in service of the Kansas City region and beyond.

The UMKC Health Sciences District includes:

“What a wonderful opportunity among our institutions to work together and advance the health and well being of patients in our community,” said Marsha Pyle, dean of the UMKC School of Dentistry.

There are other health districts in the U.S., but the UMKC Health Sciences District is unlike any other in the nation.

It is one of 18 areas in the country that have public schools of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and nursing and health studies in one location along with a children’s hospital and an adult, acute-care hospital. By including a health department, the medical examiner and a mental health center that brings together agencies of the city, county and state, the UMKC Health Sciences District is one of a kind.

Drawing on these institutions’ efforts, the UMKC Health Sciences District has the potential to enhance collaboration on research and grant requests; combine efforts on community outreach; improve faculty recruitment; coordinate area parking, safety and transportation; and create shared opportunities in health and wellness for more than 16,000 health professionals, faculty members and students.

“We have all worked together already for a long time, and worked very well together, but today we are opening a new chapter,” said UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton. “Today, we will sign an agreement designed to stimulate economic growth and job creation, attract new talent to Kansas City, create shared opportunities in health and wellness, and improve opportunities for recruiting and neighborhood outreach.”

“Better functioning health-care teams provide better patient care. Interprofessional education means educating future physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other health-care professionals to work effectively as members of those teams so that patients get the best and safest care possible,” said Steven L. Kanter, M.D., Dean of the UMKC School of Medicine. “The UMKC Health Sciences District is the perfect environment for students, scientists and health-care professionals to work and learn together as they deliver top-quality, personalized health care.”

The District is about two miles in circumference and will be bound on the north by 20th Street; south by 25th Street; west by Oak Street; and east by U.S. 71 South.

The UMKC Health Sciences District will be governed by a board composed of approximately 20 members. Each participant institution shall have two representatives on the board. The board will appoint a chair for a two-year period beginning July 1, 2018. The chair will rotate among the following participants in the following order: UMKC, TMC and CMH. The first chair, who will serve a two-year term, will be the Chancellor of UMKC. The board also will name an executive director of the District. The first executive director, who will serve a three-year term, will be the Dean of the UMKC School of Medicine.