The Miami University Board of Trustees approved the preliminary planning process for construction of a new $96 million Health Science facility on campus at the board’s meeting this morning, Sept. 20.

According to a resolution on the board’s agenda, the 170,000 square foot building would be located near Phillips Hall, the Rec Center and the Goggin Ice Center. Construction is expected to start in the late spring or early summer of 2020. It is hoped the facility can be completed by early summer of 2022, according to the resolution. 

The new facility will have labs and classrooms. It also will include the university’s Health Services Center, academic programs in nursing, a physician’s assistant program and programs in speech pathology and audiology.

An executive summary included with the resolution noted that the university’s strategic plan calls for growth in the health and science fields. Miami moved part of its nursing program from the Hamilton and Middletown regional campuses to Oxford in 2018. An initial cohort of 40 students already has grown to 80 in that program and applications remain strong, but without additional space, enrollment in the program will be unable to grow beyond the current numbers, according to the summary.

The Board of Trustees authorized university administration to begin the pre-construction phase of the project, spending up to $4.5 million for planning, design and other pre-construction services.