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Construction Underway on RIT's New Health Sciences Center

http://youtu.be/IcXqgUamHQU

State and local officials ceremonially dug shovels in the ground at RIT to kick off construction on a new Health Sciences facility.

The Clinical Health Sciences Center will be a new addition to the Louise M. Slaughter Hall on the campus.

The 45-thousand square foot building will be home to a new primary care clinic operated by Rochester General Hospital.

"The primary care clinic that we will be housing in this building will play a key role in making sure the people who live and work in the neighborhoods, surrounding this campus, have convenient access to world class physicians, and other health professionals, who can help them better manage and improve their own personal health," says Mark Clement, the CEO of RGH and RIT Board of Trustees member.

Clement says the project will allow students and faculty to explore innovative ways of delivering healthcare.

The two-story facility includes state-of-the-art lecture rooms, clinical-office simulation and research spaces.

Lt. Bob Duffy also attended the groundbreaking ceremony. He says the new center provides students with hands-on training to help keep them competitive.

"The talent that would be accessible, providing actual primary healthcare ...[that] the students that will be learning is a win-win for everybody. It really ends up creating this momentum from RIT and this community in terms of creating much more talent in the future."

The new Health Sciences Center will also house physician assistant, diagnostic ultrasound programs and forensic clinical psychology research.

The new facility is slated to open the fall of 2015.