May 8 marked the one-year anniversary of the Wichita Biomedical Campus Phase 1 groundbreaking, signaling the beginning of a game-changing project among Wichita State, WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), and the University of Kansas that will revolutionize health care in the state.
Phase 1 of the location is a $222 million, 350,000-square-foot joint health sciences center, in downtown Wichita. Once complete, the Wichita Biomedical Campus will combine WSU’s College of Health Professions programs, WSU Tech’s health care program and the Wichita campuses of KU School of Medicine and KU School of Pharmacy.
To facilitate coordination among WSU, WSU Tech, KU and the construction company, Stacy Christie was brought on as project director in early 2024. In the time since the groundbreaking, the vision and promise of the Wichita Biomedical Campus has expanded greatly:
- A $1 million grant will go towards purchasing audiology equipment that will directly benefit students in the Doctor of Audiology and Master of Arts in speech-language pathology programs as well as support Wichita State’s Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, which will be relocated to the Wichita Biomedical Campus following completion of Phase 1.
- Wichita State launched the Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine and Assistive Technology in November 2024, which will support patient-driven R&D on innovative new technologies that will improve the lives of those with physical and cognitive disabilities. In collaboration with inaugural partners Ascension Via Christi’s Rehabilitation Hospital, Heartspring’s Outpatient Services and the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center, the institute will move into the Wichita Biomedical Campus in 2027.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas committed to supporting the Wichita Biomedical Campus with a $2.5 million investment, which will be split between supporting the site and developing two endowed nursing scholarships for College of Health Professions students.
- The Kansas Center for the Advancement of Healthcare (KCAH) will help support health care initiatives across the state by developing a systematic approach to health care. Leaders and representatives convened at the KCAH statewide retreat earlier this year to discuss continued collaborative efforts to improve health care in Kansas. The Wichita presence of KCAH will be in the Wichita Biomedical Campus.
- Wichita State is committed to improving oral health care in the state and is moving forward with a study to determine the feasibility of a dental school housed within the Wichita Biomedical Campus, a first of its kind in Kansas, bringing in students and professionals from across the country to benefit Kansans in need of dental care.
Since the groundbreaking, the site has seen rapid progress in only one year. Key milestones:
- Much of 2024 was marked with digging out the old foundations at the site to install the current foundation of Phase 1 of the Wichita Biomedical Campus.
- Early 2025 saw a tower crane constructed, which is facilitating rapid vertical construction on the site.
- Coinciding with the tower crane was the completion of the first storm shelters, which marked the first sections of the building that were fully walkable.
- Later in March 2025, ramps were built to connect the two levels of the ground floor of the building, offering a first glimpse of what the interior will look like.
Currently, steel is continuing to be placed every day and the building is starting to take shape downtown. You can watch a continuous livestream of the construction site online.
And hear from Dr. Sheree Utash, president of the WSU Tech, and Dr. Greg Hand, dean of the College of Health Professions, as they sat down with President Rick Muma for the April episode of the Forward Together podcast, where they further discussed the progress and future vision for the Wichita Biomedical Campus.