CHSU set to break ground on new Clovis campus

California Health Sciences University is ready to break ground for its future campus site in the Clovis Research and Technology Park. (Daniel Leon/Clovis Roundup)

California Health Sciences University is moving forward with plans for a permanent campus at Alluvial and Temperance avenues near Highway 168 in northeast Clovis.

To celebrate the news, the University is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m. in the 70-acre future campus site behind Clovis Fire Station No. 5.

There, CHSU will unveil the design concepts for their first building to be constructed. The new campus will include labs, classrooms, a student center, a library, an auditorium, along with support buildings.

University officials will also announce their plans to expand to up to 10 post-baccalaureate colleges to train health care professionals in the coming years. The timing and specific discipline for each new school will be determined based on the need and opportunity for job placement within the region.

California Health Sciences University was founded in 2012 by the Assemi family and is the first university of its kind in the Central Valley. With two facilities across the street from one other at 120 N. Clovis Ave., it offers a local option for those seeking post-graduate and doctoral programs and to help remedy the shortage of healthcare services offered in the Valley.

Already home to a successful College of Pharmacy, the school is working toward opening a proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine as early as fall 2020. The CHSU proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine would be the first of its kind in the San Joaquin Valley, once the accreditation process has successfully been completed.

As the Roundup reported a year ago, Clovis is at the forefront in trying to meet with the growing demand of medical practitioners. Over the next decade it is projected that the intersection on Temperance and Highway 168 will become the Central Valley’s epicenter for health care needs.

The area, already bustling with Clovis Community Medical Center, will soon boast the Valley’s first full-service cancer treatment and research facility. CCMC also recently unveiled plans for an expansion. Across the street from the hospital off Herndon and Temperance, Valley Children’s is constructing a facility, which is expected to open in the fall.

A native of Woodlake, Daniel Leon is a recent graduate of Fresno State with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. Daniel served as Sports Editor at The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper, prior to joining the Roundup. Got a story idea? Email him at editor@clovisroundup.com