A New Foundation

Ut Regents Approve Ut Tyler Medical Education Building Construction

BY ELIZABETH NEWSOM

A GROUNDBREAKING was held in January to initiate construction of the UT Tyler Medical Education Building, which will house the School of Medicine. The design, development and construction of the $308 million project was approved by the UT System Board of Regents in fall 2022.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife, UT System Chancellor James Millik- en and UT Tyler President Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, FACP, joined with hundreds of community members to celebrate the groundbreaking.

“By approving the total project cost, design development and allocation of funds for the new Medical Education Building, the regents are taking the next pivotal step in launching the UT System’s seventh medical school — one that is specifically dedicated to bene - fiting Northeast Texas for generations,” Eltife says.

↑ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, UT System and UT Tyler officials toss ceremonial dirt in celebration of the UT Tyler Medical Education Building groundbreaking.

“This facility provides the physical cornerstone of UT Tyler’s plan to train physicians and meet health care needs across the state, while also growing workforce opportunities and economic development in the region,” Milliken says.

Construction is estimated to be completed in spring 2025. In the meantime, the School of Medicine will host classes at the UT Tyler Health Science Center, with the first class of 40 students enrolling in July.

“This is an enormous milestone for UT Tyler and for all of East Texas,” says Calhoun. “We are excited to take the next step in creating a physical home for the School of Medicine, and on behalf of UT Tyler, I want to thank the UT System and the East Texas community for the continued support of our health care education advancements.”

The construction project is a significant milestone in meeting projected physician shortages in the East Texas region. Physician training takes seven to 15 years to complete, making it imperative to start training now, and the medical education building is necessary to help meet this goal. Having a school in East Texas ensures that doctors can receive training without having to leave the region. UT Tyler and UT Health East Texas have collaborated to make this mission possible.

“The new Medical Education Building will be one of the most exciting training venues in the nation, providing innovative, cutting- edge facilities for the university to educate a new generation of physicians,” adds Dr. Brigham Willis, School of Medicine founding dean.

The building will give the School of Medicine the necessary tools to train the next generation of physicians, especially those specializing in rural health, preventive medicine and primary care.

Located on roughly five acres in the heart of Tyler’s medical district, the nearly 248,000-square-foot Medical Education Building will provide classrooms, simulation labs, clinical and operating room training spaces, offices and other multipurpose event and lecture spaces for the School of Medicine and graduate medical education programs.

One wing of the building will be a dedicated clinical space, featuring outpatient and specialty clinical services with exam rooms, specimen collection/processing and imaging facilities. The second wing will hold academic offices and classrooms. The five - story building will also feature a skybridge leading to the adjacent UT Health East Texas Midtown campus.

The UT Tyler School of Medicine has received generous support from the community since it was announced. The East Texas Medical Center Foundation pledged $80 million to help create the program, the Robert M. Rogers Foundation gave $10 million to support mental and behavioral health education, the R.W. Fair Foundation donated $4 million to fully fund tuition and fees for the first class of students, and Ednaemae Walsh gifted $5 million to fully fund tuition and fees for the second class. The UT System Board of Regents committed $100 million over the next 10 years to help start the school.

With the Medical Education Building, the School of Medicine will improve the quality of health care and education in East Texas for years to come.

→ Braithwaite Building, housing the School of Nursing, will be renovated and expanded by 47,000 square feet. The project was initiated with a groundbreaking this spring.