California Health Sciences University held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning at its new campus site in Clovis with its officials, founders, political leaders, and community partners in attendance.
Located on 70 acres in the Clovis Research and Technology Park at Alluvial and Temperance avenues near Highway 168, the new CHSU campus will include labs, classrooms, a student center, a library, an auditorium, along with support buildings.
During the ceremony, CHSU President Florence Dunn congratulated the inaugural class of Doctor of Pharmacy students who will be graduating in 10 days on May 19.
“As of February, two thirds of our graduating class had already accepted jobs, and 80 percent of those jobs are right here in the Valley,” stated Dunn. “I’d like to congratulate and thank our inaugural class who enabled the successful creation of our university. You are our legacy.”
The University also unveiled design concepts for the first development to be constructed, the CHSU proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine building.
“We have launched the CHSU proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine and once the accreditation process has successfully been completed, we hope to matriculate our first class of students in fall 2020,” said Dunn.
John Graneto, Dean of the proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, stated that the new 90,000 square-foot, three-story building will include a student lounge with ample study spaces, a osteopathic skills lab, faculty offices, and professional kitchen for educating students and the community about healthy meal prep.
In addition, the building will include a state-of-the-art simulation center, a large classroom with capacity for 300 students, and a second classroom for 200 students, according to Graneto.