University of Chicago and City Colleges announce Washington Park health campus

The University of Chicago, UChicago Medicine, and City Colleges of Chicago are advancing plans for a joint health and science campus in Washington Park. The project, which includes a new clinical laboratory and the Malcolm X College South Side learning center, is expected to break ground in early 2027.

Located between the Garfield Green Line CTA station and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the campus aims to provide workforce development and healthcare career pathways for South Side residents. The new pathology lab is estimated to cost at least $200 million and is expected to create 550 jobs, including 200 new positions and 350 transfers from the main Hyde Park medical center.

The laboratory will support the UChicago cancer center, which is slated to open in 2027. Students at Malcolm X College will be able to train for laboratory careers and complete clinical rotations within the new facility.