MEDICAL MILE HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER
Bates Technical College | Tacoma, Washington
Completion: 2021 | Construction Cost: $30 million
The Medical Mile Health Science Center is a cohesive, holistic, and forward-thinking health care education facility. The first major capital investment at Bates Technical College’s downtown campus in 60 years, the facility replaced the obsolete West Annex building. At 62,500 gsf, the MMHSC contains all Bates’ existing (Dental Laboratory Technology, Denturist, Hearing Aid Specialist, Medical Assistant (AMA/CMA), Practical Nursing, Nursing Assistant, Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Phlebotomy) and planned (Simulation Operation Technician, Invasive Cardiovascular Technician, Acute Care Nursing Assistant, and Med Tech) programs, general science and cadaver labs, and a SimLab facility accessible to all programs. The MMHSC allows the college to more effectively deliver its Practical Nursing program, with its associated science and technology course backbone, and meet the accredited mission of nursing education, Standard 1 of ACEN 2013 Standards and Criteria. To promote the efficient delivery of services to the community, all programs offering public clinics are located on the ground floor and share reception and records storage functions. The MMHSC increased enrollment capacity in allied health fields by 50 percent without appreciably increasing overall campus area.
The MMHSC includes space for student services staff to welcome and direct guests and students, and to promote student enrollment. The project also contributes to solving the problems identified in the Bates’ 2014 Facilities Master Plan by establishing a new centralized front door to campus at the intersection of South Yakima Avenue and the vacated Earnest S. Brazill Street, and strengthens the campus heart by eliminating traffic conflicts and improving pedestrian connections between buildings.
Spaces were designed to accommodate current technologies and the flexibility to adopt future technologies without further capital investment. The facility has greatly improved energy performance over the facility it replaces and earned LEED Silver certification.