UNE prepares to break ground for med school transplant to Portland

Oct. 4—With a local building approval, the University of New England is moving forward with a $93 million project to bring the state's only medical school from Biddeford to Portland. Groundbreaking may begin in less than a month.

The 22-mile relocation could add more desperately needed doctors to the state's health care workforce and strengthen Portland's role as a regional hub for medicine and for the biotechnology industry.

The Portland Planning Board last week unanimously approved plans for the Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences — the future home of the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine, at 780 Stevens Ave., on the existing UNE campus in Portland's Deering neighborhood.

The 112,000 square-foot, four-story facility would consolidate all of the university's health profession programs at one site. They include not only the medical school, but programs in dentistry, physician assistance, nursing, social work, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, dental hygiene and nursing anesthesia.

The center will have "all the bells and whistles" of health care education, with a state-of-the-art donor lab, simulation facilities and telehealth infrastructure, according to UNE President James Herbert.

Fundraising for the project is well underway and includes a $30 million donation from the Harold Alfond Foundation and $5 million in federal money.

Building permits are still necessary, but the Planning Board approval was the last major hurdle to the project, Herbert said. He hopes to break ground Nov. 1, with an estimated move-in date of June 1, 2024.

"This campus is going to be unprecedented in all of New England (by) having this diversity of health care programs on a single geographical footprint," Herbert said. "It's going to change how we train."

As the state's only medical school, Herbert said the university has an obligation to address the health care crisis.

"We are the workforce engine for the health care workforce in the state," he said, adding that one in three health care professionals in the state is a University of New England graduate.

The new facility will allow the school to increase the size of its medical program by more than 20 percent, increasing the capacity of each of the four classes from 165 to 200 students.

Turning out more physicians is imperative, but Herbert said he hopes the new facility will also motivate them to stay in Maine.

"It doesn't do us any good to train them here and then have them move south to Boston," he said.

BEYOND THE SILOS

In addition, the new Health Sciences Center will help UNE advance its efforts in interprofessional education — a team-based, multidisciplinary approach to training that's been shown to improve patient care and health outcomes.

Usually, medical training is siloed, and medical students don't work in broad teams. Getting doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other professionals to work together may seem like common sense, Herbert said, but that's not how it's typically done.

As a result, patients are "often treated like a bunch of disembodied organ systems," he said.

UNE has already been following the interprofessional education approach. But having the medical school in Portland and eliminating the drive back and forth to Biddeford will allow the university to better integrate various disciplines.

"I want UNE to be the national model for how you do IPE in rural settings," Herbert said.

By moving to Portland, the university can also strengthen its partnerships with health care providers there, especially MaineHealth, parent organization of the state's largest hospital, 700-bed Maine Medical Center. It will be just a 10-minute drive.

The close proximity will make it easier for Maine Med doctors to participate in the medical school, whether through mentorship, teaching, participation in simulation activities or continuing education in the lab, Herbert said.

Dr. Doug Sawyer, chief academic officer for MaineHealth, said the move to Portland would be a boon for the hospital and the MaineHealth Institute for Research.

"MaineHealth has many outstanding UNE-trained physicians on our staff, and many of their medical students receive hands-on training in our local health systems," he said in a statement. "We expect that this move to Portland will foster an even closer relationship and appreciate the critical role UNE plays in our region in educating our future workforce."

The medical school will also team up with other research and education organizations nearby, such as the Roux Institute, in efforts strengthens the city's position as a budding cluster of bioscience work.

"The synergies are going to be phenomenal," Herbert said. "It's one more piece of the puzzle that will make Portland a high-tech biotech hub."

Herbert stressed that the school is not abandoning the Biddeford campus. The university recently admitted 850 students, its largest undergraduate class yet.

"We desperately need space here," he said.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine's current facilities on the UNE Biddeford campus will be used to expand undergraduate and graduate programs in marine sciences, business and entrepreneurship, and criminology.

The switch will also give the campus what Herbert called a "distinctly undergraduate feel."