MU’s clinical campus opens at former Lathrop & Gage office

Last edited 3:36 p.m., June 14, 2016

Nearly a decade in the works, the University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Springfield clinical campus opened yesterday at Lathrop & Gage LLP’s former Springfield office.

Officials involved in the public-private partnership, including MU, CoxHealth, Mercy Hospital Springfield, Missouri State University and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, cut the ribbon on the campus during a ceremony held at 1845 S. National Ave. across from Mercy’s campus.

Weldon Webb, MU associate dean for Springfield clinical campus implementation, said the University of Missouri on March 1 signed a five-year lease and a five-year renewal option for 9,200 square feet with Gardner Properties of Springfield LLC, a company owned by Mark Gardner, president of Gardner Capital Inc. Webb said the lease rate is $15 per square foot. Gardner Capital uses a portion of the building for back-office operations.

“Gardner Properties has been so great to work with,” Webb said. “Sometimes you have random successes, and I think this is one of them.”

Led by Dr. Andrew Evans of Mercy Clinic Springfield, the starting local class comprises nine third- and fourth-year students.

Next year, MU is scheduled to open a new $42.5 million center for its clinical campus in Columbia, allowing class sizes to grow to 128 from 96. Those additional students will attend the Springfield campus during their third and fourth years, meaning 64 students should be on-site in the Queen City by 2020.

“We just don’t have the clinical space to teach these students,” Webb said of the need for the Springfield campus.

The Springfield clinical campus is funded by some $10 million from the state, including money received in a settlement last year with Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLC. Combined with the expansion at MU’s Columbia campus, the program is expected to add 300 physicians in Missouri, create an economic impact of $390 million annually and lead to the creation of 3,500 new jobs.