‘We deserve this.’ UC Merced celebrates groundbreaking for new medical education building

Shawn Jansen
·4 min read
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UC Merced officials celebrated a milestone moment as the university held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new medical education building on campus on Tuesday evening.

The $300 million dollar project will house the university’s medical education pathway that was developed in partnership with UC San Francisco and UCSF Fresno. It will be a four-story building containing 203,500 square feet of academic office, research and community-facing space, as well as common and instructional space.

The funding for the project came from the campus budget, donor gifts and state general funds.

The new building will also house the university’s departments of psychology and public health, the Health Sciences Research Institute and a range of general assignment learning environments.

Ground is broken on the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building during a ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Ground is broken on the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building during a ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.

UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz told the crowd of more than 250 people who attended the ceremony that “there was no way to overstate the importance of this building.”

A medical education program at UC Merced has been a goal since the university opened in 2005, he said.

“The urgency of medical education was driven by a lack of healthcare professionals in the Central Valley, which has only been exasperated in the intervening decades since the founding of the campus,” Sánchez Muñoz said.

“The ability for families who help grow the food, extract it from the fields can’t often afford or find healthcare to care for themselves and they help feed our country,” Sánchez Muñoz added.

According to a survey of Central Valley residents by the California Health Care Foundation, Central Valley residents (78%) are less likely to have a regular doctor or health care provider than residents in the rest of the state (85%).

Renderings of the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on display during a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Renderings of the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on display during a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.

According to the foundation, in 2020 the Central Valley has only 47 primary care physicians for every 100,000 residents. The California total is 60 primary care physicians for every 100,000 residents.

The hope is a new medical school in the Central Valley will change that.

“We know from research literature that medical professionals are far more likely to establish practices in places where they are educated and undertook their residency,” Sánchez Muñoz said. “This is part of what we hope to create here an ecosystem that is inviting for healthcare professionals.”

Renderings of the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on display during a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Renderings of the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on display during a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.

Sánchez Muñoz said the new facility will provide a training ground for students and faculty. Last fall, UC Merced welcomed its first cohort of B.S. to the M.D. SJVPrime+ students, all recruited from the Central Valley.

One member of the first cohort, Sanmeet Deol, spoke at Tuesday’s groundbreaking.

“On behalf of my fellow classmates in the inaugural BS-MD Pathway, we want you to know how excited we are to be the future doctors of the San Joaquin Valley,” she said. “We are all fromv the Valley and for the Valley and committed to serving those in need of quality health care in our respective communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley for generations to come.”

University of California President Michael Drake, M.D., speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
University of California President Michael Drake, M.D., speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.

UC President Michael Drake said the PRIME program began 20 years ago to train students with special expertise to provide medical care to people from challenging backgrounds.

He said these programs have immediate and lasting effects on the campuses and surrounding areas.

“This kind of an impact will last for years,” Drake said.

Construction is expected be completed by fall of 2026, according to UC Merced and . the facility is expected to serve about 2,220 undergraduate students by the year 2030.

“Before today, if you were born or raised in one of our many Central Valley communities and have a dream of becoming a doctor and serving your community, sadly you were forced to look elsewhere,” said Assemblywoman Esmerelda Soria, D-Fresno.

Soria said the medical education building will be transformative for the Central Valley in terms of meeting the need for more physicians and also training people from the Valley.

Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.

“We already saw the effects of this staffing shortage just down the street at Madera Community Hospital, when it was forced to close its doors,” Soria said. “So we know that what we’re doing today is ensuring we’re preparing to have a better and a brighter and a healthier future for our entire region.”

“We deserve this,” Soria added. “We deserve to have these types of investments come to our community.”

Attendees have their photo taken with a ceremonial shovel during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Attendees have their photo taken with a ceremonial shovel during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Shovels with a UC Merced logo during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Shovels with a UC Merced logo during a groundbreaking ceremony for the University of California, Merced Medical Education Building on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
A University of California, Merced Medical Education Building coat on display during a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
A University of California, Merced Medical Education Building coat on display during a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Construction of the $300 million 203,500 square foot facility, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.