State-of-the-art facility will foster interprofessional education within health care career paths

More than 300 community leaders assembled at Euclid Avenue and East 22nd Street on the campus of Cleveland State University to officially dedicate the University's newly opened Center for Innovation in Medical Professions, a $47.5 million state-of-the-art facility designed to foster a new era of interprofessional health care education.

The 100,000-square-foot structure serves programs from the CSU School of Health Sciences and the CSU School of Nursing in addition to the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health, an innovative collaboration that establishes the first public medical school presence in the city of Cleveland and offers a program that prepares physicians to practice in urban settings. The building includes simulation labs, occupational therapy and physical therapy training rooms, the CSU Speech and Hearing Clinic and CSU's Health and Wellness Clinic that serves students and the campus community.

“CSU is on the forefront of a new era in the education of health professionals where students pursuing complementary career paths will learn together and interact with each other, bringing with them into the workplace the skills and experience involved in teamwork that is coming to define modern health care delivery,” said CSU President Ronald M. Berkman.

Construction on the building began in April 2014. The design was completed by the renowned architectural firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli of New Haven, Connecticut, with assistance from the Northeast Ohio architectural office of Stantec. It incorporates a three-story atrium that provides magnificent views of the CSU campus and adjacent Trinity Cathedral. Cleveland-based Donley’s managed construction.

The project management team at Cleveland State University also met or exceeded diversity goals associated with the project. In particular, 21 percent of construction work was completed by minority or economically disadvantaged workers, seven percent by Hispanic employees and five percent by women. Goals were exceeded for local workforce participation as well, with 37 percent of the project’s workforce residing in Cuyahoga County and 17 percent specifically in the City of Cleveland.