Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | October 14, 2019 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F UMass Medical School to build new VA clinic V E R BAT I M New provost "Advances in science and tech- nology are developing at a rapid pace, and the world desperately needs more scientists and engi- neers who know and care enough to create solutions to great prob- lems in ways that are informed by global context." Winston Oluwole Soboyejo, the new provost and senior vice president at Worcester Polytechnic Institute Skin-case expansion "We'll definitely hire more people. In fact, I'm interviewing for another position shortly." Yael Schwartz, CEO of Worcester dermatology company Or- Genix Therapeutics, on its expansion following a partnership with a Spanish company Music money This $1.2-million gift "provides significant resources for Worcester to continue being a key cultural destination for musicians from across the globe." Adrien Finlay, executive director of Music Worcester, on a grant from the Stoddard Charitable Trust and Fletcher Foundation, both in Worcester, creating an endowment fund to support an annual concert A 53,000-square-foot Veterans Affairs outpatient health clinic will be built in a new $70-million to $75-million building planned next to UMass Medical School in Worcester. e new clinic will replace a small- er one on Lincoln Street in Worcester and will anchor two floors of a planned four-story, 100,000-square-foot building on Belmont Street. e building would rise on the site of what is today a regional office for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, with the state building a new office on Plantation Street. e new clinic will have 65 exam, consultation and procedure rooms, and offer specialty care in areas including radiology, echo-cardiology, physical and occupational therapy. A clinical laboratory and pharmacy will be includ- ed, along with dedicated parking for patients and staff. Site preparation for construction is expected to begin before the end of the year, with an anticipated completion in mid-2021. UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins said the medical school has long felt a sense of urgency to help in a partnership with the VA reduce wait times and improve access to care for veterans. at facility will no longer be used by the VA, but a specialty clinic at 377 Plantation St. for podiatry, audiology and optometry services will remain. at facility opened in 2016 in a partnership between the medical school and the VA Central and Western Massachusetts Healthcare System. e current Department of Trans- portation building site was transferred to UMass in exchange for a site off Plantation Street where the department's $35.5-million, 78,000-square-foot re- gional office is now nearing completion. e new UMass Medical School building will be a significant addition to the campus it shares with UMass Memorial Medical Center. At 100,000 square feet, it'll be roughly three-fihs the size of 120 Front St., the nine-story office building on Worcester Common. e new building is the result of a years-long effort stemming from what Collins said was a reporting showing a lack of accessible care for veterans in Worcester. e medical school wanted to be able to help in a partnership with the VA to improve and expand services locally, he said. It fought for years first for university funding and then for approval from the VA. "We were told no many times," Col- lins said. For the chancellor, it was also person- al, his father having been cared for in a VA clinic. e deal announced Sept. 30 was the culmination of efforts from Collins and colleagues at UMass and the VA. "I haven't seen him more enthusiastic over the last 13 years than he's been about this project," UMass President Marty Meehan said of Collins. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, spoke of the long pro- cess toward building the new facility, something he called critical for keeping veterans to have to travel to larger VA facilities in Boston or Northampton. "I lost count of how many VA secretaries we've gone through since we started this idea," McGovern said. "ere were moments when I thought this thing was derailed." A new Veterans Affairs clinic will take up roughly half of a 100,000-square-foot building UMass Medical School plans to open by mid-2021, the school announced Sept. 30. BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor W

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