ECU’s Brody School of Medicine is the only medical school serving Eastern North Carolina, and is set to expand after receiving a $265 million from the NC General Assembly signed by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2021.
Construction for the new 195,000 square-foot facility will begin in March 2025 and will finish during the 2027 – 2028 academic year.
“It’s a monumental day for our community,” ECU Chancellor Phillip Rogers said in his speech. “It’s a day of celebration for the future of medical education in our region.”
The seven-story building will be connected to the existing medical school and will feature two large learning studios seating up to 500 people in a banquet-style setting which can also transform into meeting spaces, seating up to 136 in each studio.
It will also feature one large instructional lab classroom for neurology, pathology, and immunology and spaces for simulation and standardized patient programs.
Shantell Mclaggan, a fourth-year medical student at ECU says the expansion is necessary for the future of medicine.
“Medicine is always changing,” she said. “Things are always changing, we are constantly learning. Even after I graduate, I will still be learning. With us just expanding and the fact that ECU and Brody School of Medicine takes care of the Eastern 29 counties of North Carolina, it’s long overdue for us to have a bigger space so that we can better serve our patients.”
University officials say this development will invest in the future of medicine and medical providers in North Carolina.
“ECU and Brody are the primary source of physicians in Eastern North Carolina,” Jason Higginson, Executive Dean of the Brody School of Medicine said. “We know that we educate the physician workforce out here. So having the ability to educate more physicians, will lead to better health outcomes here in Eastern North Carolina.”
According to university officials, the new educational space will further raise enrollment capacity from 86 seats to 120 seats in the medical school.
