Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas will donate $2.5 million for the new Wichita Biomedical Campus, a collaboration between Wichita State University, WSU Tech and the University of Kansas. This is the first philanthropic contribution to the project, according to WSU.
“Wichita Biomedical Campus is not just a fancy new building,” WSU President Richard Muma said. “It’s also an investment in our community, and its location in downtown Wichita is intentional, and it will be a vital part of the growing health care corridor that we’re creating, fostering collaboration with WSU, WSU Tech, KU and other health care partners.”
$1.8 million of the donation will go toward building clinic space on the new campus, according to Telly McGaha, president and CEO of the Wichita State Foundation, WSU’s fundraising arm.
McGaha said the university will need around $60 million total to pay for the clinical space it wants to build.
“We want to ensure that we are providing them (students) an affordable and accessible education, and we also want to make sure that we’re providing them with real-world experience while they’re here at the university, so that when they graduate, they can go into their careers and continue to succeed, and that is what this gift is going to do,” McGaha said.
The remaining money, $700,000, will fund two nursing scholarships for Wichita State students.
Construction on the 471,000-square-foot campus started in May 2024. The campus is expected to open in fall 2026 with classes starting in spring 2027. Recently, crews laid the foundation for the campus. A livestream of the construction can be found here.
