The Big Picture
The University of Utah has opened the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, a $215 million facility designed to shape the next era of medical education, research, and patient care in Utah and across the Mountain West. The eight-story, 210,000-square-foot building gives Utah’s only academic medical center a modern home for training future physicians and health care leaders.
Made possible in part by a $110 million joint gift from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, the new school marks one of the most significant milestones in the medical school’s history. It expands the university’s ability to prepare students for a changing health care landscape while strengthening the pipeline of physicians who will serve communities throughout the region.
“We just opened up the most modern, progressive new medical school building on the planet for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine,” said University of Utah President Taylor Randall. “This continues to put us at the forefront of medical education and medical research and innovation.”
What’s Happening
The University of Utah celebrated the dedication and ribbon cutting of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine on August 19, 2026. The new facility brings medical students, faculty, simulation spaces, anatomy training, collaborative classrooms, and student support areas together in one central home on the health sciences campus.
The building was designed alongside the school’s updated curriculum, which emphasizes integrated learning, early clinical experience, team-based education, and hands-on training. Instead of relying primarily on traditional lecture halls, the school includes flexible classrooms, collaboration spaces, advanced simulation labs, and an anatomy lab co-located with the medical students for the first time.
“This building today represents the coming together to have the home for our medical students to be able to do all of their education outside of clinical care,” said Kristina Callis Duffin, MD, MS, dean of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. “Everything that we need to do in our new curriculum…is how we see this building.”
The facility also includes spaces that support interdisciplinary collaboration across the health sciences, including connections to the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and proximity to the Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, Health, and the School of Dentistry.
Why It Matters
Utah is one of the fastest-growing states in the country, and demand for physicians and health care professionals continues to rise—especially in primary care and rural communities. University of Utah Health already trains roughly two-thirds of Utah’s physicians, and the new building gives the university greater capacity to prepare more students for careers in medicine.
The school’s curriculum is built to introduce students to clinical experiences early in their training. Second-year medical student Parker Hicks said that approach is one of the defining features of the program.
“In a traditional program, you don’t really get clinical experience until your third year of medical school,” Hicks said. “We get it within the first six weeks.”
The building’s simulation center, anatomy lab, and team-based learning spaces are designed to help students practice, collaborate, and apply what they learn before entering patient-care environments. That approach reflects how medicine is practiced today: through teams, technology, adaptability, and whole-person care.
The new school also strengthens the connection between education, research, and patient care. University leaders say the impact of the building will extend far beyond campus by supporting new discoveries, improving access to care, and preparing physicians who can serve communities across Utah and the Mountain West.
“We’re going to be able to increase the number of physicians serving in the state,” Randall said. “You’re going to see the state’s health increase, and you’re going to see bigger innovations coming out of the University of Utah.”
The Bottom Line
The Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine is more than a new building. It is a long-term investment in Utah’s health care future.
For students, it offers a modern, collaborative environment where they can learn, practice, and grow into the next generation of physicians. For faculty and researchers, it creates new opportunities to connect across disciplines and advance discovery. For patients and communities, it strengthens the pipeline of health professionals who will provide care in Utah and throughout the region.
“I truly believe that a new era of medicine in Utah and the Mountain West starts today,” said Spencer Fox Eccles, chairman and CEO of both Eccles foundations. “This world-class facility and endowment will benefit countless patients through the medical students who learn here, the renowned faculty who teach here, and the researchers who innovate here to find better treatments and life-changing cures.”
As the university opens the doors to this new home for medical education, its purpose is clear: to train more physicians, support better care, and help build a healthier future for Utah and the Mountain West.