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Northwest Quadrant (formerly Columbia Hospital) in UW-Milwaukee. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The nearly $200 million project at UW-Milwaukee’s East Side Campus will enable education for more health science experts to meet the growing demand. It also provides anchor tenants to former hospitals purchased by the university 15 years ago.
UWM proposes moving the Health Services program from five buildings in the northwest quadrant, a 1 million-square-foot former hospital complex, to one integrated location.
The project will allow the university to further train 300 students each year on top of the 2,000 already on offer.
Gov. Tony Evers included $4.1 billion in his 2025-2027 capital budget of $189.3 million to renovate the 307,000-square-foot facility. The proposal remains subject to legislative review.
“These investments are important not only to address the state’s aging infrastructure, but to build towards the state’s future, to belong to the UW system, to support veterans, to protect valuable natural resources, or to modernize correctional agencies and improve the safety of communities across the state,” Evers said Monday. “We can’t afford to drive cans out in major infrastructure projects across the state, especially as potential tariff taxes and trade wars can only be expensive with daily delays.”
The Health Services Project was identified as the top question of UWM state authorities in the 2023-2025 and 2025-2027 budget cycle.
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“This project is committed to increasing the ability to educate and train the next generation of skilled healthcare professionals and addressing the need for a well-prepared workforce across the state,” the university said in a statement. “The project will transform the Northwest Quad Complex into a state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary health science hub. It will integrate programs currently scattered across five buildings, expanding education labs and strengthening practical collaborative learning in high-demand areas such as physical therapy, biomedical science and occupational therapy.”
The project will offer a degree program with dedicated classrooms and labs located in a central location. A 2023 video of teachers currently spreading across campus identifies the current state of reused classrooms as a key drawback.
From exercise training to radiological techniques, 20 degree programs are included in this move. The university reports that the program has a total of 98% occupational placement rate, with registrations doubling between 2000 and 2012.
This effort remains the subject of political whims and greater debate over funding the university system. The $4.1 billion capital budget is subject to approval from the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature. In a recent budget, Congress has significantly reduced Evers’ proposed capital allocation.
But the state has already provided millions of funds to its efforts.
In 2023, the state allocated $5 million to preliminary designs for the project. Karler Slater was hired to lead the design effort.
The state has previously provided at least $52 million to UWM to redevelop the previous hospital complex. A total of $96.4 million has been invested in hospital complexes, according to the 2022 fact sheet.
UWM bought the former Columbia Hospital in 2010 for $22 million. Colombia, part of the current ascension, is E. It was closed in the 1990s as part of expanding the Columbia St. Mary’s campus along North Avenue. Many hospitals have been vacant since the UWM acquisition, as the university has worked to redevelop it in stages.
Health Sciences Program is N. Move to parts of buildings B, C and D, located along E. Hartford Avenue near Cramer Street.
Previous funding supported the replacement of windows and repair of facades, the addition of new entrances to Building B, the construction of a nursing simulation centre, renovation of Building D of the Health and Wellness Centre for the Faculty of Information Studies and its students, and the former controlled demolition of Building A, the oldest part of the green space.
According to the capital budget, the latest projects include “deleting the spaces in old hospital patient rooms, treatment rooms and clinics. Replacing the infrastructure of the old building, including all building, mechanical, electrical, communications and plumbing systems. Installing new insulation in the external envelope.”
After the project is completed, UWM will hold a children’s learning center, nursing simulator and greenhouse in Building B. The university’s IT department will be relocated to the complex.
The university expects to use the space that will become available after the health sciences programme is moved to future projects, according to the project’s website and budget requests.
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