UT Health Sciences breaks ground on $350 million College of Medicine building

The 300,000-square-foot Memphis facility, backed by $311 million in state funding, will expand medical and physician assistant enrollment and is expected to be substantially complete in 2029.
Oct. 20, 2026
3 min read
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Key Highlights

  • The project is the largest capital investment by the Tennessee General Assembly in higher education history, totaling $350 million.
  • The new facility will increase medical student enrollment from 175 to 250 per cohort and double Physician Assistant Program enrollment from 30 to 60 students annually.
  • Designed by HOK and brg3s architects, the building features flexible academic spaces, simulation labs, digital health zones, and rooftop green spaces to foster innovation and collaboration.
  • The project aims to help Tennessee address a potential physician shortage of up to 6,000 by 2030 through expanded training capacity.
Courtesy of HOK
Rendering of new medical building at University of Tennessee at dusk.

The University of Tennessee Health Sciences announced that it has broken ground on a $350 million College of Medicine Interdisciplinary Building in Memphis, a project university officials say represents the largest capital investment by the Tennessee General Assembly in a higher education institution in state history. The groundbreaking, which took place on Oct. 8th, marked the start of construction on the 300,000-square-foot facility, which will become the first dedicated home for the College of Medicine, the largest of UT Health Sciences’ six colleges. The project is being funded primarily through a 311 million state appropriation approved earlier this year, according to the university’s news outlet.

The university also has launched a $50 million private fundraising campaign tied to the project of which $39 million will support the building and $11 million will fund related programming. More than $20 million in private support has been committed so far, including a $5 million gift from First Horizon Foundation, the university’s report revealed.

Building will expand health sciences enrollment

The new facility is intended to give UT Health Sciences room to increase the number of healthcare professionals it trains as Tennessee faces growing workforce needs.

Dr. Michael Hocker, executive dean of the College of Medicine, said in the news report:

“We fill the clinics and hospitals in every corner of this state and beyond. Our physicians are taking care of patients and providing high-quality, patient-centered care, conducting life-changing research and discovery and educating the next generation of leaders. Today, we are not simply opening a building; we are expanding our capacity to carry that mission into its next century with purpose, scale and urgency.”

The College of Medicine plans to increase its medical class from 175 to 250 students per cohort, while the university’s Physician Assistant Program will double annual enrollment from 30 to 60 students. Across the health professions, UT Health Sciences estimates that the building will help it educate about 1,450 additional healthcare professionals during its first five years of operation.

The university says Tennessee could face a shortage of as many as 6,000 physicians by 2030. Medical students will begin their foundational training in the Memphis building before completing portions of their education at UT Health Sciences locations and clinical sites around the state.

Why this matters

The size of Tennessee’s investment makes this more than another higher education construction project. UT Health Sciences is tying a major capital expenditure directly to an anticipated workforce shortage, using new space to expand enrollment and increase the number of physicians and other healthcare professionals entering the state’s workforce.

The project also shows how campus planning can support institutional growth. Rather than adding space around an existing program, UT Health Sciences began with a campuswide space inventory and built the program around projected enrollment, interdisciplinary instruction, simulation, and emerging technology needs.

For higher education facilities leaders, the project offers a large-scale example of capital planning driven by both facility needs and measurable academic capacity goals—with enrollment growth, workforce development, and space planning all informing the investment.

The project follows other major investments in health sciences education this year. In August, AS&U reported that Florida International University and Baptist Health South Florida had begun construction on a $162 million academic medical center designed to combine medical education, clinical training, and outpatient care on FIU’s Miami campus.

Flexible learning and simulation spaces planned

Designed by HOK in collaboration with Memphis-based brg3s architects, the seven-story UT Health Sciences building will include flexible academic and support spaces, advanced simulation areas, technology-enabled learning environments, and spaces designed to bring students from different health professions together.

A second-floor Interdisciplinary Commons will serve as a shared gathering and collaboration space. Plans also call for specialty simulation areas, digital health and technology innovation space, a health incubator, external partnership areas, student study and gathering spaces, and rooftop green space.

Technology incorporated throughout the building will also allow faculty and students in Memphis to connect with learners elsewhere in Tennessee.

The building is expected to be substantially complete in 2029, with full occupancy planned for 2030.

This piece was created with the help of generative AI tools and edited by our content team for clarity and accuracy.
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