$311M Boosts UTHSC Medical Future

Tennessee lawmakers approved $311 million for a new College of Medicine Interdisciplinary Building at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. (uthsc.edu) The vote came April 17 after Gov. Bill Lee included the project in his February 2 budget proposal. The full project cost is $350 million, with $39 million coming from university support. (uthsc.edu) (tennessee.edu) The building is planned at 275,000 to 300,000 square feet on Madison Avenue, between the College of Pharmacy Building and the site of the demolished Holiday Inn at Madison and Pauline. (uthsc.edu) UT Health Sciences said the new space would raise College of Medicine class size from 175 to 250 students and double the physician assistant program from 30 to 60 students a year. (uthsc.edu) (tennessee.edu) State and university officials tied the project to Tennessee’s workforce shortage. UT said the state is projected to need 6,000 additional physicians by 2030. (uthsc.edu) The university also said the building would support telehealth training, online education, and interdisciplinary instruction for students expected to work across medicine and other health fields. (uthsc.edu) UT Health Sciences operates campuses in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, and it describes itself as Tennessee’s only statewide academic health science center. (uthsc.edu) The Memphis Medical District Collaborative called the $311 million appropriation the state’s largest higher-education project and said UTHSC expects to graduate 1,450 new professionals in five years. (memphismedicaldistrict.org) For Memphis, the state money turns a long-planned medical school expansion into a funded construction project with a site, a budget, and a bigger training target. (uthsc.edu) (tennessee.edu)