WesternU to hold groundbreaking ceremony for new education center

Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., is celebrating the beginning of an exciting new project. The university is holding a groundbreaking ceremony for the Health Education Center at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007 in the Student Commons.

The four-story, 180,000-square-foot Health Education Center will be the new home of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and the three new colleges opening in 2009 – the College of Dental Medicine, the College of Optometry and the College of Podiatric Medicine. Construction is expected to be completed in summer 2009.

The first floor will have four auditoriums and faculty offices. Two 350-seat auditoriums will stretch from the second floor to the third floor. The College of Optometry and COMP will be on the second floor. The College of Podiatric Medicine and the College of Dental Medicine will be on the third floor and research labs will be on the fourth floor.

The Health Education Center is one of four new buildings planned for the WesternU campus. Construction on the Veterinary Clinical Center began in August and is expected to be completed in early 2008. The Veterinary Instructional Pathology Center will be built by April, and the Interprofessional Clinic Building is expected to open in summer 2009