The University of Maine will use $45 million in federal funding to build a health and life sciences complex on the school’s flagship campus.
Joan Ferrini-Mundy FILE PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY
“This facility will prepare students across Maine and its public universities for the rapidly evolving world of modern life science, health care and innovation — where data, AI, advanced technologies and interdisciplinary research shape every aspect of practice from the lab to the classroom to the patient,” said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, UMaine’s president and vice chancellor of Maine's public university system. She was recognized as a Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year in 2024.
As a learner-centered, top-tier research university, UMaine “integrates workforce development, world-class research and real-world problem-solving at every stage of education,” empowering future professionals to “lead Maine’s health and life sciences sector for decades to come,” Ferrini-Mundy said.
A timeline has not yet been set for the project, which will require “significant planning and fundraising,” according to UMaine spokeswoman Samantha Warren.
'Catalyst for health care'
The $45 million, announced by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is the largest individual congressional spending award in Maine’s history and was included in the 2026 fiscal year Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill.
“This funding will be a catalyst for UMaine and for the future of health care in our state,” said Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and is seeking reelection this year to a sixth term.
The new complex “will help educate aspiring nurses, doctors and other health care professionals here in Maine, preparing the next generation to meet the complex needs of our state,” she added.
Earlier this month, an independent study released by the University of Maine System made several suggestions for improving access to health care statewide, including investing in
research, nursing and allied health programs across the state's public universities, and building the proposed complex in Orono.
The same study questioned the feasibility of launching the state's first public medical school amid $250 million in projected startup costs and tens of millions in sustained operating support.
