UND leaders urge funding for Health Professions Facility as Columbia Hall nears vacancy; committee hears study and funding testimony

The University of North Dakota’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences told the House Education Committee that a proposed Health Professions Facility is needed to replace aging space and expand simulation, research and interdisciplinary training across nursing, medicine and allied health programs.

Marjorie Jenkins, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for health affairs at UND, said Columbia Hall must be vacated and that deferred maintenance on Columbia Hall and the nursing building totals roughly $60 million. Jenkins said UND’s plan envisions a roughly 95,000‑square‑foot, three‑story facility that would house the College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines together with the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and would include a simulation hospital, research space, and classrooms. "I excerpted the part that I say every day, to serve North Dakota for the benefit of its people and to improve the quality of their lives," Jenkins said, citing the statutory purpose of the medical school in the North Dakota Century Code.

Jenkins and other witnesses provided specific funding figures the university had previously proposed: a total project cost near $95,000,000, with UND and local sources committing $40,000,000 and a state request of $55,000,000. Jenkins said even with outside fundraising the earliest occupancy timeline would put construction finished in 2028 and teaching beginning in 2029; she called the project a "need" rather than a mere want because Columbia Hall’s usable life is ending.

Multiple witnesses described programmatic benefits that would follow from the facility. Jenkins and College of Nursing Dean Meredith Schoegren said a simulation hospital would allow extended, team‑based simulation scenarios that bring nursing, physicians, physician assistants and other disciplines together in realistic, shift‑length experiences; Schoegren said expanded simulation reduces reliance on scarce clinical placements and improves patient safety and clinical readiness. Tom Arnold, chair of the School of Medicine Advisory Council and an OB‑GYN who practices in southwest North Dakota, said the advisory council "overwhelmingly recommends" the addition to address workforce shortages and program modernization.

Physicians and medical leaders asked the committee to consider funding the full building rather than only a study. Joshua Ranum, a UND graduate who practices in Hettinger and served as past president of the North Dakota Medical Association, urged an amendment to fully fund the building, saying a delay would increase costs and exacerbate the operational risk tied to aging facilities. Former UND vice president and dean Joshua Wynne (testifying in support) echoed that urgency and described the project as an opportunity to build on gains from prior workforce initiatives.

Witnesses also flagged research and federal funding risks: Jenkins noted UND’s significant federally sponsored research activity and said changes to federal rates for indirect costs (F&A) could materially reduce research support. The school told the committee it trains a large share of North Dakota clinicians—"over half of the physicians practicing in North Dakota are our alumni," Jenkins said—and that expanding simulation, rural training and research capacity supports retention of those graduates in the state.

Committee members asked technical questions about program scope, robotic surgery training, and whether the recent master‑planning work accounted for academic needs. Jenkins said the master plan predated her arrival but that the fire marshal’s assessment accelerated the timeline to vacate Columbia Hall. No formal opposition testimony was recorded; the committee heard broad support from academic and clinical stakeholders and closed the hearing without a committee vote.

The testimony in the hearing framed the bill before the committee as a study authorization but included repeated appeals from university and medical‑community witnesses to restore or add capital funding to build the facility now. If enacted with funding, the university and partners expect the facility to expand interdisciplinary training, simulation, rural workforce development and targeted research for statewide health needs.