UH’s medical school building to be ‘crown jewel’ of campus
The University of Houston unveiled renderings for its planned medical school building Wednesday, a modern four-story building with lots of glass and a sleek, boxy design.
The unveiling highlighted a celebratory event at the Houston campus featuring Gov. Greg Abbott signing a ceremonial bill establishing the UH College of Medicine. Abbott signed the actual bill in May, following its passage in the Texas Legislature.
“Exceptional achievements start with a vision, a vision propelled by persistent effort,” the governor said at the event, which was attended by a host of state and local politicians. “That’s what brought us here today.”
In a statement, Mayor Sylvester Turner called the bill signing “a significant milestone for the Tier One university that will have implications far beyond campus.” He added that “as Houston’s mayor and a proud UH graduate, I look forward to watching the development of the medical school’s cutting-edge programs and contributions to our community.”
Turner and Abbott both praised the school’s special mission to train primary care doctors to serve in underserved areas, a huge need in Houston and the state, given projected physician shortfalls. Plans call for 50 percent of UH’s students to come from minority populations.
The college would become the first new medical school in Houston in nearly 50 years. Since UH System regents signed off on the
concept in November 2016, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board gave its approval and the 2019 Legislature allocated $20 million for start-up costs and recognized the school in state statute. Accreditation is the only remaining hurdle.
That review, by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, is currently underway. UH officials hope it will be granted in time for the school to begin admitting students for fall 2020.
They also hope, after a spring groundbreaking, the new building is ready to open in summer 2022. Students will attend classes in an existing building until then.
An anonymous local donor has donated $3 million to cover the full tuition for the medical school’s inaugural class of students.
The roughly 150,000square-foot building, designed by architectural firms Page Southerland Page Inc. and SLAM, will include stateof-the-art classroom and meeting spaces, an anatomy suite, a sun-lit atrium and a continuum-of-care simulation suite. It will be flanked by trees.
David Oliver, a UH associate vice president for facilities, said that university officials sought “a peaceful, green, iconic building, a landmark on campus since it will be the organization’s crown jewel.” He confirmed it will be the university’s most modern building.
The college will be built on a 43-acre tract of undeveloped land on campus, along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. across from MacGregor Park.