The University of Maine will receive $45 million in congressionally directed spending to build a health and life sciences complex on the Orono campus, according to university spokesperson Samantha Warren.
University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said the new building will offer hands on research experiences to students in their first semester.
"This kind of facility, this sort of once in a generation type of facility for our university, will enable us to enact that where we can bring together hands on, learning experiences, engagement with community, and the problems and challenges that we see across the state, together with our research and the kinds of labs and experiments and studies that are going on that can inform all of that," Ferrini-Mundy said.
Ferrini-Mundy said ending the health care worker shortage in the state is top of mind as the university starts planning for the complex.
"Part of what we would like to do as we design and think about this building is think about what can go on there that builds more capacity and more pathways into the health professions and into medicine in the state of Maine," Ferrini-Mundy said.
The university may need another $80 million to $100 million to fund the project and is currently planning additional fundraising, according to Ferrini-Mundy.
