Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic Break Ground on Dental Clinic
Article by Crain's Cleveland Business Health care/Nonprofit Reporter, Lydia Coutré
Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic broke ground Tuesday, Oct. 10, on a dental clinic building as part of their joint medical education venture."
The three-story, 126,000-square-foot structure — located directly north of the Health Education Campus at 9601 Chester Avenue — will provide a space where students can treat patients under dental faculty supervision. The location will be much more visible and convenient for the roughly 19,000 patients who seek treatment at the school's clinic each year.
"This building will enhance the education of all of our health sciences students, because each discipline has much to teach—and learn from—one another," Case Western Reserve president Barbara R. Snyder said in a prepared statement. "Just as important, it will contribute to the health and well-being of thousands of patients in our community."
Construction on the 485,000-square-foot Health Education Campus, designed by renowned London architects Foster & Partners, began in 2015. Both buildings will welcome patients in two years, according to a news release.
The hospital and university announced their collaboration in 2013 and soon expanded the vision to include dental and nursing students under a shared belief that there is great value in training providers in a single space rather than separate buildings for each school, according to the release.
In initial designs, the dental clinic was within the main building, but moving it across the street allowed for more space and room to expand, as well as adjacent parking.
The design of the larger building puts students in the same classes, dining and studying spaces and features new technology, including using Microsoft HoloLens (a mixed reality device that allows users to interact with holograms) in place of cadavers for anatomy courses.
"The primary mission here will be to deliver high quality, low cost dental services to the community," said Dr. Toby Cosgrove, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, in a prepared statement. "It reflects our ongoing commitment to improving the health and quality of life for the people of the Hough and Fairfax neighborhoods. We believe that everyone deserves access to necessary health services, including dental medicine."