Senate Education Committee hears bill to study and fund UND health professions facility

The North Dakota Senate Education Committee on a recent afternoon heard Senate Bill 2,286, which would create a legislative management study of University of North Dakota health-professions programs and request a $55 million state appropriation toward a proposed $95 million health professions facility at UND in Grand Forks.

Sen. Robert Eberly, a sponsor of the bill, told the committee the bill pairs a study with a capital request to bring medicine, nursing, physical and occupational therapy and other health disciplines into one building so students can train together in team-based environments. “It is more than an appropriation for a new building. It’s a program and a vision that will dynamically influence health care delivery into the future for all North Dakotans,” Eberly said.

Supporters said the project responds to an urgent campus safety and space problem at Columbia Hall, which university officials say must be vacated within about…