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 16–18 months after a fire marshal review. Dean Marjorie Jenkins, dean of the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences and UND vice president for health affairs, told the committee that losing Columbia Hall and parts of the nursing building would remove roughly 23,500 square feet of research and instruction space and would disrupt labs and clinical training for hundreds of students. Jenkins said UND has an 18‑month timeline to vacate Columbia Hall and that the proposed 92,000-square-foot addition would allow the university to relocate programs and preserve research capacity.

The bill’s cost estimate is $95 million in total: UND has pledged to raise $40 million from university and philanthropic sources, and the bill requests $55 million from the state general fund, supporters said. “We have identified a commitment of $40,000,000 … we are confident after speaking with the leadership of our foundation and president Armacost and others that we will be more than able to reach that $40,000,000,” Jenkins said. Senators on the committee asked for clearer bill language to distinguish the university’s pledged local/philanthropic funds from the state appropriation.

Proponents emphasized workforce benefits: Dean Jenkins and Dr. Mary Schogren, dean of UND’s nursing college, described a planned simulation hospital and expanded interdisciplinary simulation training designed to increase readiness for rural and critical access hospitals across the state. “Simulation makes it very real, very now,” Schogren said, adding that extended, multi‑discipline simulation scenarios can reduce errors and help graduates function in high-stress emergency situations common in rural practice.

Testimony from health system and hospital leaders highlighted the workforce shortage. Dr. Scott Knudson, chief of staff at Trinity Health in Minot, said bed capacity in many hospitals is constrained by staffing, not physical space, and that expanded training could help meet demand for nurses, therapists and other allied health staff. Todd Schafer, president and CEO of Sanford Health, said a simulation center that trains teams together could reduce hierarchical barriers and improve patient safety.

Committee members sought detail on the project’s timeline and the relationship between the bill’s study and the request for funding. Sponsors said the study is intended to run in tandem with planning and that master planning work for the addition began years earlier. Jenkins said if the project is funded on the timeline discussed, UND would aim to occupy the new facility in 2029–2030.

No formal committee vote was recorded at the hearing. The committee closed the hearing on SB 2286 after public testimony and invited committee work on related items.

The bill’s supporters asked that the Education Committee forward the request to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.