Medical School Building Approved At Oakland University

Technically, the building will be called the "Human Health Building." This is going to be a huge value-added to Oakland University. I'm not sure of the location, though. Right on the corner of Squirrel and Walton? Probably enough land there to put up a building, but I can't see any room for more parking whatsoever. And anyone on campus during the busiest times, which tend to be almost all the time in the Fall and Winter semesters, knows how hard it is to find parking. In fact, OU is expecting to have 20,000 students by 2010. Here is a map of OU with the location of the approved building indicated: (you can get a full map of the OU campus at this link)Parking lot P1 is stuffed to the gills with cars. P3 less so. Anyway, from The Oakland Press: OU board approves new Human Health Building.

The OU Board of Trustees has approved the design for the first building in what will become a health education and research complex at Oakland University.

The $62 million, 160,000-square-foot Human Health Building will be on the campus’ northwest corner at Squirrel and Walton, where plans include a new medical school.

OU Provost Virinder Moudgil, senior vice president for academics, said the fivestory building for OU’s School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences will be completed by 2012 and boost the economy as well as university academics and research in health care.

“This is such a delightful opportunistic time,” Moudgil said.

It also sets up the complex for a medical school, for which OU is awaiting accreditation.

Oakland University will receive $40 million for construction from the state’s 2008 capital outlay budget. The remaining $22 million, along with roughly $11 million in related infrastructure and technology improvements, will be financed through the issuance of university general revenue bonds.

The facilities and technology for both classroom and clinical education will replicate amenities found in modern hospital and community-based health care settings.

Having such state-of-the-art facilities will also enable the university to expand research and educational partnerships with hospitals and other health care entities throughout the region.

Once OU has a Human Health Building, it will add to its strong presence in natural science and premedical as well as a center for biomedical research and the Kresge Eye Institute. All this put together makes Oakland a very strong presence in the health care community, Moudgil said.

OU officials say this will enable the university to expand research initiatives and educational partnerships with hospitals and other health care organizations throughout the region.

As a commenter over at the OP correctly pointed out, OU is not the home of the Kresge Eye Institute, but rather the The Eye Research Institute, which takes up the entire 4th floor of Dodge Hall of Engineering. A minor flub on the part of the Oakland Press, but anyway. So if the School of Nursing as well as Health Sciences will move into the new building, will the Eye Research Institute follow? Since engineering only has 20% of Dodge Hall of Engineering and is spread out over at least 3 buildings, can we then get the 4th floor back and actually declare Dodge Hall of Engineering Dodge Hall of Engineering? I've got dibs on an office with a good view, rather than the one I have right now with an excellent view of a brick wall. And I will be willing to arm wrestle anyone for it!