Design Revealed for UMKC Healthcare Building, Work Start Next Year

By Kevin Collison

UMKC officials revealed the design of the $120 million Healthcare Innovation building planned for Hospital Hill today, and announced more government funding for the project has been secured.

Former Sen. Roy Blunt helped obtain $10 million in federal support for the project, and the state of Missouri has increased its commitment from $40 million to $60 million, according to a release.

The private donations included $30 million from the Sunderland Foundation and $15 million from the Hall Family Foundation.

The six-story, 200,000 square-foot Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building designed by Clark & Enersen and RDg…Planning and Design is planned for the corner of 25th and Charlotte in the UMKC Health Sciences District.

A map presented to the city indicates UMKC is planning a second healthcare building at the site some point in the future. (Map by RDg…)

It’s intended house new dental teaching clinics and expanded medical school teaching facilities.

“The new Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building will be one of a kind,” UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal said in a statement.

“We know of only one other combined medical and dental education building in the nation, and none other that will include what ours will with a unique combination of collaborative programs focused on elevating health care.”.

In addition, it will provide space for the UMKC Health Equity Institute, the university’s Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center and its new Biomedical Engineering program

The entrance of the Healthcare Innovation building. (

The Healthcare Innovation project is expected to be a catalyst for developing the UMKC Health Sciences District into a major regional academic medical center that can generate billions of dollars in jobs and economic impact, according to UMKC.

The Healthcare Innovation project is expected to be a catalyst for developing the UMKC Health Sciences District into a major regional academic medical center that can generate billions of dollars in jobs and economic impact, according to the release.

Construction is expected to start in 2024 with completion in 2026, according to UMKC.

In recent years, the healthcare complex on Hospital Hill has become a major employer in downtown Kansas City. Between 2002 and 2019, it grew from 7,548 employees or 6.8 percent of the downtown workforce to 12,251, 10.6 percent, according to the Census.