Local educational leaders took a significant step forward today in the efforts to expand medical education in the region. Representatives of the Indiana University School of Medicine-Evansville, the University of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech Community College signed letters of intent to participate in a new interdisciplinary health science research and education campus.
The project has been referred to popularly as the “IU medical school project,†but in reality the project will include all four of the above-mentioned schools, multiple health science degree programs, and four regional hospitals. Plans also call for a 40,000-square-foot simulation center to be used for training, research and possibly product development work.
When this health care campus is opened it is expected be home to 1,600 to 2,000 health care students from all four universities.
No site for the project has been selected. IU is expected to issue a request for proposals next month. The IU Board of Trustees are expected to select a site at the February or April board meeting.
Groundbreaking is planned for summer 2015, and the campus is set to open in August 2017.
