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HIT Expands with the MSU College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids

The inaugural class of 50 second-year College of Human Medicine students began classes at the temporary quarters at 234 Division, Grand Rapids in August. In two years, the college moves to the $90 million Secchia Center medical education building that is currently under construction in downtown Grand Rapids. The Secchia Center will be a seven story, 180,000 square-foot facility, atop a five story garage that will include classrooms, clinical teaching laboratories, offices and student study areas.

The medical education building is named in recognition of Ambassador Peter F. Secchia, an MSU alumnus and former U.S. Ambassador to Italy. Ambassador Secchia has provided a lead gift of $10 million to the medical educational building.

Health Information Technology is proud to provide continuing support for the College of Human Medicine’s cutting edge technology and has extended its expertise to the college’s expansion, including onsite support under Grand Rapids IT manager Ron Pranica, with Josh Simpson and Rob Sisson. Lectures are being broadcast with High Definition video conferencing equipment from East Lansing to Grand Rapids and back. Students are also able to communicate and ask questions from either site.

The Secchia Center will host state of the art instructional technologies for community and medical education. When the Secchia Center opens in 2010, it will become the headquarters for the MSU College of Human Medicine. By 2013, MSU College of Human Medicine will train approximately 800 students each year, of which 350 will be in Grand Rapids. Students have shown great enthusiasm about being part of the expansion to Grand Rapids and West Michigan.

To see the construction progress of the Secchia Center from a webcam click on the following link:

Secchia Construction Cam


Artist's renderings of finished building: