At a standing-room-only dedication ceremony for the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences, Indiana University joined with the University of Southern Indiana, the University of Evansville and the city of Evansville to celebrate a facility with the potential to transform health care in southwestern Indiana and promote economic development in Evansville.
The Stone Family Center for Health Sciences will offer academic health care programs from all three higher education institutions in downtown Evansville.
"It is no exaggeration to say that we meet at the beginning of a new era of medical education for the city of Evansville, southwest Indiana, and the surrounding region," IU President Michael A. McRobbie said at the dedication. "And as we celebrate the splendid new center, we celebrate a building that is an appropriate home for the vitally important education and research in the health sciences it now supports."
The Stone Family Center for Health Sciences, located in downtown Evansville, is the new home of the IU School of Medicine - Evansville campus and will offer academic health care programs from Indiana University, the University of Southern Indiana, and the University of Evansville under one roof.
The new facility and multi-institutional partnership was supported by a $15 million gift from Evansville natives William and Mary Stone. It houses the IU School of Medicine-Evansville —one of the medical school’s nine campuses throughout the state — as well as space for the IU School of Dentistry, the University of Evansville's doctor of physical therapy program and its newly established physician assistant program, and the University of Southern Indiana's nursing and occupational therapy programs.
When the Stone family cut the ribbon to officially open the facility, medical students dressed in their white lab coats gathered to hold signs spelling out the words, "Thank you, Stone Family."
From the top: Administrators from Indiana University, the University of Southern Indiana, and the University of Evansville, and leaders from the city of Evansville gather around William Stone as he prepares to cut the ribbon to officially open the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences. IU President Michael A. McRobbie speaks to the large crowd assembled to celebrate the new facility. IU School of Medicine students hold up signs to thank the Stone family for their $15 million gift in support of the new health sciences center.
In his remarks, McRobbie discussed how IU has led the way nationally in establishing regional medical education centers as a way to expand the physician workforce and meet anticipated future health care demands.
"Indiana University has done so successfully for nearly five decades," he said. "And, as studies have shown, attending a regional medical education campus increases the likelihood that a student will practice primary care medicine, especially family medicine, in the area where they received their training—and in the communities where they are most needed."
From the top: Ron Ruchon, president of the University of Southern Indiana, Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, president of the University of Evansville, and Michael A. McRobbie, president of Indiana University, hold up ceremonial keys at the dedication ceremony for the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences. IU Trustee Pat Shoulders is joined by his wife, Lisa, when he speaks at the dedication of the "Healing Arts," a fountain outside the new health sciences center. A crowd gathers near the fountain during a reception with the Greater Evansville chapter of the IU Alumni Association. Photos by James Brosher, Indiana University
At an evening reception with the Greater Evansville chapter of the IU Alumni Association, the festivities continued with a dedication of "Healing Arts," a fountain and public art installation funded in part by IU Trustee Patrick A. Shoulders and his wife, Lisa.
"(Shoulders) is one of the strongest advocates you will find for the city of Evansville, Vanderburgh County, and Indiana University," McRobbie said. "And without his strong advocacy and support, the establishment of the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences simply would not have happened."
Read the dedication speech for the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences
