The Joint Appropriations Committee of the South Dakota legislature approved a bill setting aside five million dollars for a new health sciences building at USD in Vermillion.

The building would be built on the current site of Julian Hall and bring together a number of health science majors scattered across the campus.

Legislators on the committee had a number of questions about the project and USD President Sheila Gestring says that is part of the process…

Gestring says this is a critical part of improving health care….

Gestring says they expect rapid growth in the need for these students..

Total cost for the project is expected to be about twenty-two million dollars with most of that raised privately.