Feb. 2, 2021
Feb. 2, 2021
At our Founders Day Convocation today I announced a transformational gift from CL and Rachel Werner that will take Creighton’s leadership in interprofessional health sciences education to an even higher level.
The Werners’ investment represents the lead gift for an innovative health sciences facility that will transform our Omaha campus. The CL Werner Center for Health Sciences Education will be the new home of the School of Medicine and will include shared spaces for each of our health sciences schools and colleges. Expected to open in fall 2023, it will be designed for collaborative, interprofessional teaching and learning.
I am grateful to CL and Rachel, Omaha philanthropists and longtime Creighton benefactors, for their generosity, and I am humbled by the faith they have placed in Creighton’s mission to continue to transform health sciences education.
Team-based care is the future of health care and our cutting-edge facility will feature a centralized interdisciplinary simulation center and active group classrooms, bringing together medical, nursing, physician assistant, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioral health and other students to train and learn with — and from — each other.
The 115,000-square-foot CL Werner Center will stand near the I-480 and Highway 75 interchange at Cuming Street, providing a new front door to our campus on the west. A $10 million renovation of the adjacent Criss Complex brings the total project cost to $85 million. We plan to break ground on the CL Werner Center this summer.
With approximately 5,900 students, faculty and staff using the new building each year, I am additionally pleased to report that consolidating many of our health sciences efforts will result in a more efficient use of space, resulting in annual cost savings of $700,000.
The CL Werner Center underscores the growth and progress of our health sciences enterprise. With the Creighton University Health Sciences – Phoenix Campus on target to open later this year and our recent announcement of a $25 million gift from an anonymous foundation for the Arrupe Global Scholars and Partnerships Program, Creighton is poised to become the largest provider of Catholic health sciences education in the U.S.
Again, I am extremely grateful to the Werners for the confidence they have placed in Creighton, and I am correspondingly appreciative of our exemplary students and alumni, and our talented faculty and staff, who bring our educational mission to life.
Sincerely,
Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD
