Center for Medical Education gains golden support
The vision for the state-of-the-art technology in the Center for Medical Education at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine came into better focus thanks to a $1 million investment from the Golden LEAF Foundation.
Construction of the state-funded, seven-story, 195,000-square-foot building is underway and expected to be complete in 2027.
“By investing in the Brody School of Medicine, Golden LEAF is advancing the future of health care for the region we both serve,” Chancellor Philip Rogers said. “Their support helps ensure a state-of-the-art learning environment is available for future medical students.”
Rogers said the support is a continuation of the foundation’s longtime partnership and shared vision with the university.
“To fulfill our missional work of regional transformation, we need exceptional partners. We need people to walk alongside us to drive positive change in the lives of the people that we serve,” Rogers said. Golden LEAF’s support of our mission has led to a long-standing partnership with real, impactful and tangible outcomes at ECU and in the region.”
The award is the first million-dollar philanthropic investment — in partnership with the ECU Health Foundation — for the medical school expansion. The funding will outfit the building’s learning studio with 360-degree screens and the software to run the whitebox simulation room.
Dr. Michael Waldrum, dean of the medical school and CEO of ECU Health, said the Golden LEAF award will help the medical school continue to build on its reputation for producing physicians who are prepared to provide health care in rural North Carolina.
“Healthy rural communities need access to excellent physicians, and no one does that better than ECU,” Waldrum said. “By providing for advanced medical simulation and classroom technology in our new Center for Medical Education, Golden LEAF is underlining an important aim — that this collective project be not just an expansion of physical space but an educational leap toward addressing the needs of our students, our region and rural North Carolina.”