Wilmer Eye Institute breaks ground for new building

Baltimore-The Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine broke ground June 6 for a $100 million, 200,000-square-foot structure to house additional research and clinical facilities across the street from the institute’s current facility.

The new building, scheduled to be completed by 2009, will feature a multi-story glass atrium; a surgical center outfitted with diagnostic, imaging, and documentation equipment; and open laboratory space to foster collaboration.

“The aim is to get scientists to work closely with one another; share ideas, equipment, and expertise; and have great flexibility in creating needed research space,” said Peter J. McDonnell, MD, director of the institute and the William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology.

The institute’s faculty of 80 currently conducts $25 million worth of federal and other research and performs more than 8,000 major inpatient and outpatient eye surgeries each year. The new facility is expected to increase access to meet a projected demand for more than 9,000 annual operations.

The new building is part of a $1.2 billion medical campus redevelopment program at Johns Hopkins that is designed to replace aging structures on the 80-acre campus. The centerpieces of the redevelopment are two new clinical towers, one for cardiovascular and critical care services and one for a children’s hospital.