UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine moves to Portland

The University of New England on June 3 inaugurated the Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences in Portland, a state-of-the-art medical education facility now serving as the new home of Maine’s medical school, marking a transformative moment in the future of medical and health professions education in Mane.

The opening of the new facility, celebrated with a formal ceremony on UNE’s Portland Campus for the Health Sciences, culminates the relocation of the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine from Biddeford to Portland, placing UNE’s medical students in close proximity to the state’s largest hospitals and clinics and most densely populated communities, while also placing it closer to rural northern areas of the state.

“Over the past two-plus decades, UNE has emerged as a unique institution essential to the health of our home state, acutely attuned to industry needs, and providing wave after wave of graduates expertly equipped to tackle the latest workforce needs,” said UNE President James Herbert. “The impact of this facility will reach far beyond Portland to the entire state of Maine, and indeed, New England more broadly, increasing the number of doctors we can graduate each year at a time when their expertise is desperately needed in communities throughout the state and region.”

The 110,000-square-foot Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences is the final piece in bringing together nearly all of UNE’s health professions programs on a single, integrated campus — including medicine, dentistry, physician assistant, pharmacy, nursing, and the allied health fields — creating a fully interprofessional learning environment that is unprecedented in New England.