TWednesday was a milestone for Missouri Southern State University, President Van Galen and others said during a groundbreaking ceremony for the $42 million Roy Brandt Health Sciences Innovation Center.
“Even if you walk around campus today and see construction fencing, it's hard to imagine what we'll see and experience 25 months from now,” Van Gaalen said. “But I can tell you this: The Roy Brandt Health Science Innovation Center is more than a beautiful, iconic building. It actually shapes and changes lives.”
Van Galen said the project began in December 2021 when Missouri Governor Mike Parson invited Missouri universities to submit applications for transformational capital projects. After consulting with campus leaders, local employers and government officials, MSSU decided to establish an innovation center to put the university at the forefront of health sciences and support the health of our communities.
Given the region's assets of the University of Kansas City School of Medicine and Dentistry, MSSU's programs and two major health systems, it makes sense for MSSU to focus on health care as it looks to the future, Van Geelen said. Stated.
If all goes as planned in the current legislative session, Parson and local elected officials will facilitate a $30 million investment from Missouri for the project, he said.
The project is a combination of state, federal and private funding and is expected to be completed in July 2026. Private funding included a $1 million donation from Dr. Robert Wilcoxon and his wife Dot. The building's namesake, former U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, facilitated his $2 million federal grant to the university.
“In this moment, we come together to celebrate a milestone in a journey that will change the educational experience of our students for generations to come,” Van Gaalen said.
Shelley Whiteman, Head of Allied Health, detailed the features of the new health center.
“For me, this building is an outward demonstration of everything I already know to be true about southern Missouri,” Whiteman said. “The state-of-the-art facility helps students feel valued and recognized. Students enter a mock hospital equipped with cutting-edge technology and learn everything they need to care for patients. You will feel ready to learn everything.”
simulation hospital
The center will house a mock hospital with labor and delivery and a critical care unit where students can hone their patient care skills. Equipment such as X-ray examinations, CAT scans, and ultrasound examinations will be installed. The first floor will house research space, classrooms, and an ambulance model. The center will also include a large virtual reality room.
“This state-of-the-art environment will provide students with simulation-based educational technology and experience opportunities for targeted and immersive learning experiences,” Whiteman said. But that's just one aspect of the building.
The east side of the building will house a welcome center, coffee shop and study space for students. It will be called the heart of campus and will also include a community gathering space with rooms for seminars and educational events.
Ashley Cordischi, a senior nursing major at MSSU, served as a student representative on the campus committee advising the center. Her main concern, she said, is that the center aims to improve clinical simulation and bridge the gap between theory and real-world application in practice.
“It's really exciting to go from just an idea of what we want the center to be compared to now, where we're at the groundbreaking stage,” Kordiski said.
The center's technology will help students transfer what they learn in the classroom to real life, she said.
Van Gaalen said he would like to personally thank Brandt for helping establish the center. In addition to the $2 million federal grant, Van Galen also cited Brandt's support for public education.
“Sen. Brandt's life is the epitome of public service,” Van Geelen said. “He has had a tremendous impact on Missouri, this region of Missouri and Southwest Missouri. He has been a champion of higher education for many years.”
health science summit
Brandt was the first speaker at the Wilcoxon Health Sciences Innovation Summit, held following Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony. The two-day event will feature local healthcare providers speaking about the future of healthcare.
During his 12 years in the U.S. Senate and 14 years in the House of Representatives, Blunt increased funding for the National Institutes of Health by nearly 60% and increased funding for Alzheimer's disease research fivefold. He currently serves on the boards of several medical advisory boards. He also served as president of Southwest Baptist College, his alma mater, from 1993 to 1996.
In his remarks, Brandt said that health care accounts for 20% of the national economy. It's the most important thing in the world because it affects so many families. His MSSU Health Center is needed in this region because of the rapid pace of change.
“This building itself is a promise to keep southern Missouri involved in really important conversations about health care,” Brandt said. “The important discussion about medicine is how much medicine has changed. Medicine has changed more in my lifetime than in the entire history of medicine.”
The way we look at health care today is completely different than it was 20 years ago, Brandt said.
Over the past two decades, the human genome has been mapped, vaccines for diseases such as cervical cancer have been developed, rapid tests for tuberculosis have been created, and mRNA technology has led to the development of vaccines for COVID-19. We've progressed to the point where we could develop it in 10 months. Pandemic.
“One of the big benefits of this new immersive facility is the ability to train in a facility that is easy to keep up to date,” Brandt says.
