Creighton University Celebrates Groundbreaking of New School of Dentistry
The highly anticipated, innovative space will expand enrollment and support the recruitment and retention of top students from across the country.
Creighton University celebrated the official groundbreaking of its new School of Dentistry facility. The groundbreaking, which took place on Thursday, September 15, 2016, signals the first update and modernization of Creighton’s dentistry school since 1973 and the beginning of a project that will expand enrollment and support the retention and recruitment of top students from across the country.
"Service to patients across the spectrum, coupled with a vision for innovation, have long been at the heart of the curriculum in the Creighton School of Dentistry," said Creighton University President the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, SJ. "In this new facility, faculty and students together will be able to expand those parallel missions, finding the best ways to compassionately care for all patients and making the latest treatments available."
Throughout the past 10 years, multiple programming efforts indicated obstructions to the long-term continued use of Creighton’s current dental facility as well as constraints to the progress of curriculum and the capability of the school to capitalize on the potential for increased class size. A thorough analysis of the existing Boyne Building, Creighton University Medical Center and three potential new building sites, combined with the success of the School of Dentistry and the Campus Master Plan, revealed the need for a new ground-up building. RDG’s design and development process, which engaged with an executive steering committee, six working groups and a visioning team, defined three overarching goals for the new School of Dentistry building:
Create a state-of-the-art facility for educating students and serving the community
Philosophically aligned with the Jesuit and Catholic University mission of Creighton University
Develop a strategic facility plan for the School of Dentistry that is both quantitative and qualitative
“We’re proud to partner in this endeavor, facilitating and leading the implementation of a vision set in motion over a decade ago. Thislarger and more technologically advanced facility will allow the School of Dentistry to answer the growing demands of Creighton’s dental education program, patient needs and the dental profession nationally. It’s an honor to work with Creighton to create a space for the next generation,” said RDG Architect and Principal Joe Lang, AIA.
Located on 21st Street between Cuming and Burt, the new 200,000-SF $84.5 million, the new building will expand the School of Dentristy’s mission to help more patients in Omaha, many of whom otherwise go without proper dental care. Creighton’s School of Dentistry program receives more than 2,200 dental student applications for 85 currently available first-year positions; the projected enrollment capacity in the new facility is 115 students per year. Upon its expected completion in the summer of 2018, the school will serve significantly more than the current 12,000+ patients seen annually.