05/14/2021
Today, Creighton University celebrated a ceremonial groundbreaking for the CL Werner Center for Health Sciences Education, a new facility that will dramatically change the west side of campus.
Expected to open in fall 2023, the $75 million, 130,000-square-foot CL Werner Center will serve as the new home of the School of Medicine and as an interprofessional hub for all Creighton health sciences schools and colleges. The building will stand near the I-480 and U.S. Highway 75 interchange at Cuming Street.
Named for CL and Rachel Werner, longtime Creighton supporters who announced the transformational investment in February, the new five-story facility will bring Creighton’s entire campus east of U.S. Highway 75. The University will sell the property west of the highway occupied by the Cardiac Center, the Boyne Building and the Bio-Information Center, reducing the University’s footprint by 220,000 square feet.
“The CL Werner Center will be a striking new front door to the west side of campus and a beacon of our strength in interprofessional teaching and learning for the health sciences,” said Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD. “It will serve as a symbol of the connections we are making at Creighton — between our spaces, between our disciplines, and with the people we care for.”
Soon to be the nation’s largest Catholic health professions educator, Creighton has built a national reputation as a leader in preparing students for interprofessional patient care — an approach shown to improve quality of care and patient outcomes while decreasing costs.
The CL Werner Center will further the University’s excellence in this area. The facility will bring together medical, nursing, physician assistant, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, behavioral health and other students to train and learn with — and from — each other. The collaborative environment features a centralized interdisciplinary simulation center and active group classrooms.
