North Carolina Construction News staff writer
UNC Pembroke has reached a construction milestone on its $96.8-million Clinical Sciences Building, with the placement of the structure’s final steel beam marking the halfway point in the project’s development.
Goldsboro-based T.A. Loving Company is among the construction teams working on the project. Charlotte-based Jenkins Peer Architects designed the building.
Rob Hsin, a senior client leader with Jenkins Peer Architects, said the design was intended to reflect the university and the character of southeastern North Carolina.
“It represents the future of this community and this area. It is optimistic. It is forward-looking. It is going to create that healthcare equity, the academic equity in this area that you so strongly need,” Hsin said.
University officials, state legislators and members of the construction team held a traditional topping-out ceremony as a 20-foot, 500-pound beam was lifted into place.
The 74,000-square-foot building will house the university’s College of Optometric Medicine, Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program and other clinical sciences programs.
The facility will include specialized classrooms, laboratories and clinical training spaces intended to prepare students for healthcare careers and expand access to services in southeastern North Carolina. Construction is expected to continue through the summer of 2028, with the building scheduled to open for the fall 2028 semester.
“This is an important moment in the construction process,” Chancellor Robin Gary Cummings said. “It represents real progress. But, more importantly, it represents another high-water mark for UNCP and the life-changing impact this building will have on healthcare across southeastern North Carolina.”
The project is part of the university’s efforts to address healthcare workforce shortages in the region by expanding local education and training opportunities.
“What began in 2016 as an unsuccessful request for $1 million became so much more — a larger investment into the future, this university and this region,” Sen. Britt said.
The university’s expanding health sciences programs include its Doctor of Nursing Practice program, which graduated its first students in December 2025, and a recently launched family nurse practitioner program. Its occupational therapy program is in its second year.
The College of Optometric Medicine is preparing to establish North Carolina’s first public Doctor of Optometry program and the Golden LEAF Foundation also contributed $4.8 million for diagnostic imaging and clinical training equipment.
“Our investment in UNCP reflects that mission — expanding access to care, supporting healthcare workforces and contributing to the long-term economic vitality of the area,” said Scott Hamilton, the foundation’s president and CEO.