UND Center for Family Medicine Grand Opening | Video

Jennifer Joas | 9/27/2012

A new 61,880 square foot facility in downtown Bismarck will bring in more primary care physicians. The University of North Dakota Center for Family Medicine will not only treat people in the Bismarck area, but it could also have long term impacts on healthcare statewide.

Nearly 100 people gathered outside for the grand opening of the Center for Family Medicine. Speakers expressed excitement for the new facility which will provide an additional eight exam and procedure rooms, X-Ray and laboratory suites, a pharmacy and office space.

"Being able to design our own space, so that we could provide the sort of faculty to optimize patient care and education means that we can do a better job at both," said Joshua Wynne, UND VP Health Affairs and Dean for School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The facility will provide training for 16 residents to enter the primary care field.

"That is very important in a state like North Dakota that has a lot of rural areas where family medicine physicians are the major providers of health care in those rural communities," said Wynne.

UND is also expanding the class size for the school of medicine with an additional eight medical students, nine residents and 16 health and sciences students statewide.

"Coming in the next decade or more, we are going to have to provide more and more physicians and more health care providers for the entirety of our state and especially out west," said UN President Robert Kelley.

The medical students will also do rotations at both St. Alexius and Sanford Medical Center.

The new center is at 701 East Rosser Avenue.

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