Rutgers medical school in Newark NJ unveils $600M renovation
In a move to attract more top-flight medical researchers, Rutgers University has unveiled plans for a massive renovation of its medical school in Newark that could propel it up the national rankings.
But prestige will not come cheap.
The project is estimated to cost $600 million and concentrates on upgrading and expanding research laboratories along with nuts-and-bolts renovations to windows, heating and cooling systems, electricity, ventilation and water at the 47-year-old, 650,000-square-foot Medical Sciences Building in downtown Newark.
The project is the largest and most expensive renovation ever contemplated in Rutgers University history, said Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences.
Story continues below photo gallery.
With the architectural and engineering plans submitted, the next important step is to find money to pay for the project.
Rutgers officials hope to get a combination of taxpayer money from state government and federal research dollars that new researchers would bring to the school. How much of the $600 million will come from what source still needs to be determined.
Looming fiscal crisis
Although New Jersey had a budget surplus of $8.3 billion for the current fiscal year, the next few years are not projected to be anywhere near as bright. State government “faces a looming fiscal crisis,” with revenues projected to fall short by $3 billion to $4 billion annually from 2025 to 2029, according to a Rowan University report released in June.
All of the funding sources “needs to be arranged over the next year, so we can bring it forward to our board for approval, before launching into the next phase of construction,” Strom said.
More:Rutgers Senate votes no confidence in President Jonathan Holloway. Here’s why
More:Newark mayor, unions raise alarm at what Rutgers merger may mean for University Hospital
The move comes as Rutgers is looking to merge its two medical schools, the New Jersey Medical School in Newark and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, into the newly named Rutgers School of Medicine while continuing to have two campuses. The merger, approved by the Board of Governors in July, has faced criticism from faculty, students and some Newark-based community groups who fear that fewer resources would be devoted to the Newark school and its affiliate University Hospital.
Rutgers leaders said the Newark project has been in the planning stages since 2018, years before the merger approval.
Attract more world-class physician-scientists to Newark
The project has two goals.
The first is to bring more “world-class physician-scientists and biomedical researchers” to its Newark campus and attract large research grants in areas such as infection, immunity, cardiovascular diseases, pain, pharmacology, neurodegeneration and cancer.
The second is to provide better care at the school’s teaching hospital, the 500-bed University Hospital, which is undergoing its own renovation. “Simultaneous investments could create a truly world-class facility for the people of Newark and the entire region,” said Ed Jimenez, president and CEO of state-owned University Hospital.
College leaders hope the proposed renovations can vault the school in national prestige. It was tied with three other institutions for 71st out of 193 medical schools in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings for research. Robert Wood Johnson was ranked 68th.
“Our commitment is to creating the best medical school possible for New Jersey with a strategy for growth, investment and economic development in both of our host cities,” Strom said.
Crédito: Link de origem
- Advertisement -
Comentários estão fechados.