Mayo Clinic Breaks Ground on Net-Zero Lung Restoration Center

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Jan. 20, the Mayo Clinic broke ground on its newest center located in Jacksonville. The design of the new lung restoration facility will offer a new perspective on the way medical facilities are built. At the groundbreaking ceremony, a solar panel was signed that will be part of the new building, which will be carbon neutral and environmentally friendly. The three-story, 75,000-square-foot facility will be a net-zero energy building, through its use of renewable energy sources onsite or nearby, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.

The Mayo Clinic has partnered with Silver Spring, Md.-headquartered United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, to create the new center. United Therapeutics has pledged to not contribute to global warming and to create sustainable facilities, thus creating the net-zero Mayo Clinic Lung Restoration Center. The facility will feature solar panels, some of which will be located above parking lots near the clinic.

The first two stories of the facility will house the lung restoration center while the third floor will serve as a research center. The research area will be used to find solutions to cases of the body rejecting transplanted organs, among other transplant related complications. The research facility will also be used to research precision or individualized medicine, a process uses genome sequencing to diagnose and treat individuals. Mayo Clinic doctors will also be focusing on regenerative medicine, which the clinic believes can result in the ability to repair damaged organs or create new organs by using a patients stem cells, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Scheduled to open in late 2017, the facility will deliver rejuvenated lungs to recipients in coordination with lung procurement organizations, according to The Florida Times-Union. “Ultimately, this relationship will help Mayo Clinic expand its reach to patients who could benefit from this innovation,” said Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic’s campus in Florida, in a statement.

This article was originally published on HealthCare Construction + Operations News.