New Health Education Building expected to break ground in 2024

BY KRISTI WILLETT CHS Contributor

The University of Kentucky is committed to training health professionals who will advance the well-being of the Commonwealth and beyond. To adhere to this mission, a collaboration among four health care colleges — Medicine, Public Health, Health Sciences and Nursing — has been established to construct an innovative, stateof-the-art health education building.

With technological advancements, modern aesthetics, and a spacious environment conducive to learning, this new facility will serve as a hub for health education and provide an exceptional educational setting to sufficiently prepare the next generation of health care leaders, health and rehabilitation practitioners, nurses, physicians, public health professionals, scientists, and more.

The new structure will be called the Health Education Building (HEB). This new facility will prepare the next generation of health leaders to help Kentuckians, and everyone, live longer, healthier lives.

Groundbreaking for the building is expected to be in early 2024 with completion in late 2026. “In our commitment as the University of Kentucky for Kentucky, and with our vision for a healthier Commonwealth, it is vital that we continue to expand and enhance programs for learners across the health care continuum in a transdisciplinary way to continue to grow a high-quality health care workforce for Kentucky,” said UK Provost Robert DiPaola, M.D.

Last April, the state legislature approved the budget, which includes $250 million in state bonding authority that — along with funding from university sources — will be allocated for the construction of this new building.

Recently, Turner Construction Company was selected as the project construction manager. Turner’s presence in Kentucky dates back to the construction of a concrete mill for American Woolen Company in 1924. Since that time, they have completed more than $1.1 billion worth of construction projects throughout Kentucky, ranging in value from $100,000 to $450 Million. The architects and designers for the project also have been selected.

JRA Architects and HOK will help establish the health education building as a cutting-edge facility with state-ofthe-art technology and modern design, enhancing the educational experience for the next generation of health care leaders in Kentucky.

JRA Architects is a Lexington-based firm with over 75 years of experience and HOK has used its planning and design expertise — including architecture, interiors, health care consulting, lab planning and design, medical education planning, and engineering — to help create and enhance academic medical environments for more than 65 years.

“The College of Health Sciences boasts some of the country’s leading programs within our respective disciplines,” said Scott Lephart, PhD and Dean of the College of Health Sciences. “The only thing we have needed in recent years is the space to expand our professional programs to meet the healthcare workplace shortage in the Commonwealth and beyond. This building will be the preeminent academic complex in the country for health science education enabling us to grow and strengthen our graduate and professional programs. This expansion will also permit us to repurpose the outstanding space we currently occupy in the Charles T. Wethington, Jr. Building, including advancement of a Center for Undergraduate Education and Student Success and a Center for Research and Scholarship in CHS.”

To follow the progress of HEB, visit: provost.uky.edu/heb

PRE-DESIGN (AUG 2022)

• Project team, vision and overall goals

• Program validation and verification

• Site analysis

SCHEMATIC DESIGN (FEB 2023)

• Concept development

• Cost estimates and budget reconciliation

• Authorization to move to next phase

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT (AUG 2023)

• Extension of Phase I

• Design and general structural details

• Cost estimates & budget reconciliation

• Authorization to move to next phase

CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS (NOV 2023)

• Design finalized

• Development of construction blueprints

• Technical specifications for bidding, construction, permits, etc.

• Cost estimates & budget reconciliation

• Authorization to move to next phase

BIDDING (JAN 2024)

• Identification of construction company

• Groundbreaking

• Cost estimates and budget reconciliation

• Authorization to move to next phase

INLCUDED IN THE HEB

• FINAL PHASE (DEC 2026)

• Occupancy

CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION (SEP 2026)

• Build

• Equipment move-in and operations set up

CHS GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS

• Department of Athletic Training/Clinical Nutrition

• Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

• Department of Physical Therapy

• Department of Physician Assistant Studies

• Department of Health and Clinical Sciences/Medical Laboratory Sciences program

• Rehabilitation and Health Sciences PhD Program