New facility for Dental School clinics approved

The University of Texas System Board of Regents this year authorized a $95 million oral health care center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. The new four-level 172,000 gross-square-foot building will be named the Center for Oral Health Care at the MARC and will be constructed adjacent to the university’s Medical Arts & Research Center (MARC) on Floyd Curl Drive.

The facility will improve dental education and training, and enable the Dental School to sustain its top-tier ranking, said William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, president of the Health Science Center.

The proximity of the facility to the MARC outpatient medical care clinics will assist referrals and management of patients with oral health conditions, said Kenneth L. Kalkwarf, D.D.S., M.S., dean of the Dental School. The MARC is the flagship location of UT Health Physicians, the clinical practice of the Long School of Medicine at the Health Science Center.

“The Health Science Center’s schools work together to educate the entire health care team, and we are excited about the opportunity to care for the region’s oral health needs and conduct clinical research studies in a new facility that is closely interrelated with our medical colleagues,” Dean Kalkwarf said.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.