It was a celebration for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as the much-anticipated opening of its new School of Pharmacy and Health Professions building became official.
The facility, constructed on the continually developing and growing east side of the UMES Campus, was christened by President Heidi M. Anderson, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions staff and faculty, University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay Perman, and Board of Regents chairperson Linda Gooden, and numerous state officials with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This (project) has been a labor of love for me and my colleagues, for the past five years,” Anderson, UMES’s 16th president, said as she addressed the group of civic members, faculty, alumni, and current students. “This phase one building will enhance the capacity of UMES to teach and deliver critical health services, but it is also an important new resource for the community as we – together – address rural health disparities and determine how to best deliver services to our community.”
Construction of the $90 million, 125,000-square-foot building began in late 2019 following the announcement of a $10 million allocation by the Maryland General Assembly in April.
The opening of the facility is the next step in concentrating the university’s nine health programs and six academic departments — kinesiology, physical therapy, physician assistant, rehabilitation services, pharmaceutical sciences, and pharmacy practice & administration — in one location.
In all, UMES has the most health professions programs among all Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationally.
Anderson said that as a pharmacist, the new facility holds “special meaning” to her, while also helping advance the goal of helping UMES students prepare to address the most pressing health issues of the day, especially for rural communities in areas of the Eastern Shore.
Many of the students in SPHP programs are actively involved with faculty and community initiatives to improve the health and well-being of citizens, which include the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines through clinics for Somerset County citizens as well as collaborations with TidalHealth and other community organizations.
“These cutting-edge facilities will give our students the opportunity to soar above and beyond toward anything they want to accomplish in the future,” said Dr. T. Sean Vasaitis, the acting dean of the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions. “But that future does require the completion of our learning complex. As you tour this building, do notice that there are very specialized spaces … because this building was always meant to be part of a larger complex.”
The aforementioned “phase one” of the complex features a state-of-the-art facility containing classrooms, offices, research laboratories, a community and hospital pharmacy practice space, and simulation laboratories.
This learning environment will house the pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences programs while accommodating interprofessional activities with UMES’s allied health programs.
Phase two of the project, which will follow after funds are secured, will not only include simulation laboratories, classrooms, and collaborative spaces for the university’s physical therapy, physician assistant, rehabilitation, and kinesiology programs but would also house a proposed School of Veterinary Medicine.
With the completion of the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the east portion of the campus continues to see significant development and growth that started nearly a decade ago with the construction of the nearby Engineering and Aviation Sciences Complex in 2016, and will continue with the construction of UMES’s new Agricultural Research and Education Center, set for a groundbreaking ceremony this summer.
The complex will not only help steer the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions toward fulfilling its mission of preparing healthcare professionals and advocates to lead change in the field through interprofessional education, research, and service on the local, state, national and global levels but also continue to help move towards more interdisciplinary interaction, which is an essential goal to Anderson.
“It is critical as it will bring all of our other health professions programs together to foster the kind of synergies that are necessary to deliver 21st-century health care,” she said.
