FORT WAYNE, Ind (WOWO) – Trine University has purchased an additional 43 acres of land from Parkview Health in Fort Wayne.

The new property is adjacent to a 13-acre parcel Trine purchased from Parkview in February 2023, where the university is currently constructing its new Dr. Earl D. and Melanie Brooks College of Health Professions facility, which remains on pace to open in summer 2024.

The new parcel is north of the existing property and includes additional frontage on Union Chapel Road.

John Shannon, Ph.D., Trine University president, said the acquisition will allow the university the opportunity to continue to grow its health professions programs.

“It will also give us the flexibility to consider other options, such as future housing and recreational possibilities,” he said.

The new 110,000-square-foot Brooks College of Health Professions facility, developed in close partnership with Parkview Health, will employ 100 faculty and staff and serve nearly 700 students. The new space will allow the Brooks College of Health Professions to add new programs, such as occupational therapy, medical science and emergency medical sciences, among others.

The new facility will offer state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories and feature, in partnership with the Parkview Mirro Center, an innovative Simulated Patient Care Center (SimCenter) including mock surgery and Emergency Room suites and exam and patient rooms. It also will include a Virtual and Augmented Reality Immersive Training Room, Intensive Care Unit, Nursing Station and Med Room and Sterile Processing.

Student support resources will include a library, gathering area, academic support and counseling services.

The college began with the university’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, which launched in fall 2014 on the campus of Parkview Randallia Hospital, the current home of Trine’s health professions programs.

The DPT program and Trine’s Master of Physician Assistant Studies program accept direct entry and other students from Trine’s undergraduate health sciences programs, which in turn has spurred growth on the Angola campus.

A second expansion to Best Hall opened in August to accommodate growth in Trine’s Rinker-Ross School of Health Sciences.