UC Merced celebrates new medical building

MERCED, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday evening at the UC Merced campus for a new medical building, officials announced.

According to UC Merced, the four-story tall and 203,500 square feet building will house the instructional, academic office, research, and community-facing space and common areas.

The UC Merced’s Medical Education Building will also house its “B.S. to M.D.” pathway, aimed at producing doctors who will serve the local community, as well as the university’s departments of psychology and public health, the Health Sciences Research Institute, and a range of general assignment learning environments.

“Medical education had long been part of the plan for UC Merced since before we opened our doors to undergraduates in 2005,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said. “It was very much a dream, but one far too long deferred until now.”

The urgency for medical education, according to officials, was driven by the critical lack of healthcare professionals in the Central Valley, a problem they say has only grown since.

The Medical Education Building is the latest advance at a university campus that has grown remarkably in size and stature since its own groundbreaking in October 2022, according to UC Merced.

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