Dell Medical School Construction Begins
AUSTIN, Texas — Construction is officially underway for the new Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). University and state leaders gathered at the site of the future medical school Monday to unveil a new mosaic rendering of the project.
Though ground has yet to be officially broken, officials gave new details to the project. The 515,000-square-foot project, which is expected to break ground this fall, consists of research, educational and administrative facilities, as well as a medical office building and parking garage.
“We’re doing this so we can better serve society by finding new ways to deliver health care,” said UT Austin President Bill Powers at the ceremony. “Innovation will be the underpinning of the Dell Medical School.”
Construction of the hospital required a strong community effort. In 2012, Travis County voters approved Proposition 1, a proposal to increase the tax rate for Central Health, the countywide hospital district, and commit $35 million each year to support the medical school. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving education and health for children in urban poverty, pledged $50 million to establish the school.
“Make no mistake. Today isn’t just about three new buildings on our skyline,” said state Sen. Kirk Watson, who has led efforts to create a medical school in Austin. “Our community will be different — healthier and stronger — thanks to this project we’re launching today.”
The UT System Board of Regents committed $334 million to the construction of the new health care campus, while the Seton Healthcare Family has committed $295 million to build a 211-bed teaching hospital that will replace the outdated University Medical Center Beckenridge. Seton will own and operate the teaching hospital.
The new medical facility will feature state-of-the-art technology to foster innovation.
“The Dell Medical School will embody the next innovation — and hopefully many hundreds of innovations — in medical education, and indeed, in health care itself,” Powers said.
The Dell Medical School will be the fifth medical school in the UT System and the first medical school built in nearly four decades by a member of the Association of American Universities, an organization of leading public and private research universities, according to university officials.
“The new medical school campus will be part of our academic campus, and this will be a powerful connection,” Powers said in a statement. “Our medical students will be walking distance from some of the most innovative research in the world — not only in medicine but in pharmacy, chemistry, medical business systems and biomedical engineering. They will be learning shoulder-to-shoulder with the other professionals who will be on their teams in the hospitals and clinics — nurses, social workers and pharmacists — as they treat patients. This will be a great place to learn transformative medicine.”
The first facilities at Dell Medical School are expected to be complete to welcome an inaugural fall 2016 class.