\n\tThe new building consolidates all\u00a0SHRS programs previously scattered among three Oakland structures under one roof, including Communication Sciences and Disorders, Community Health Services and Rehabilitation Science, Counseling and Behavioral Health, Health Information Management, Physician Assistant Studies, and Sports Medicine and Nutrition.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt also houses the Doctor of Chiropractic program that SHRS launched in fall 2025<\/a>, the first of its kind at a public, research-oriented university in the U.S. The program relocated from The Box office building on Pittsburgh\u2019s South Side to a dedicated space at Fifth and Halket.<\/p>\n \n\tOn a recent tour of the building, Greg Smith, SHRS director of space management & planning, explained the transition process.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSHRS has vacated our footprint in Forbes Tower,\u201d he said of its third- and fourth-floor spaces. \u201cWe had a program on the second floor in the Murdoch Building just down a couple blocks. Our Emergency Medicine program, which was in the McKee Professional Building, has moved over here.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe have a few select programs that were down on Bridgeside Point that have moved \u2026 and then we have some research admin folks.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\u2018Tremendous learning space\u2019<\/p>\n \n\tSHRS is the building\u2019s primary occupant, filling up floors three through eight. Each floor includes classrooms, while every other floor includes staff and faculty workspaces along with specifically designed clinical skills labs to serve across various SHRS disciplines.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOnce you kind of see a few floors, you\u2019ll start to get the hang of it,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of the same thing over and over, but there\u2019s some unique stuff on each floor.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLarge, bright, ample-windowed student lounge areas are found on floors four, six and eight. Those are also what Smith called \u201cworkplace floors,\u201d sharing similar layouts and housing faculty and staff offices. Floors three, five and seven, conversely, are the \u201clearner floors\u201d containing more complex-designed dedicated lab and research spaces.<\/p>\n \n\tThe third floor includes specialized skills labs for the Doctor of Chiropractic and Physicians Assistant Studies programs, and the Communication Science Disorders department has a research floor on seven, Smith noted.<\/p>\n \n\tOn the fifth floor, Smith\u2019s disclaimer about repeating layouts tends to lose some of its relevance.<\/p>\n \n\tAlong with Sports Medicine\u2019s athletic training and therapeutic exercise labs, the fifth floor includes a dedicated food-science lab. The kitchen-on-steroids is a veritable sea of stainless-steel, hood-vented, video monitor-accompanied islands with gas ranges and food-preparation counters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe did have a food science lab in Forbes Tower, but it was six kitchenettes with sort of a couple tables right in front,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHere, we have a dedicated food science lab. On the other side (of the wall) is an adjacent classroom.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNow we have the ability to have a separated learning space \u2014 or a hands-on space \u2014 versus a more classroom-style space (along with) being able to integrate the technology with the (video) monitors.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe lab is augmented with a washer and dryer and a food-waste room. \u201cWe have separated cold and dry storage. \u2026 We have industrial-sized freezers in here for cold storage. We have racked dry storage in the underside,\u201d he noted. \u201cSo it\u2019s just a tremendous learning space for our (Sports and Nutrition Program).\u201d<\/p>\n \tSimulated street scenes<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tAnd then, down the hall, there\u2019s the ambulances. Yes, you read that correctly. Well, technically, they are replicas of emergency medical transport vehicles \u2014\u00a0lacking wheels and an engine \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t make their appearance any less surprising or impressive.<\/p>\n \n\tTom Platt, professor and chair of Community Health Services and Rehabilitation Science and professor of emergency medicine, who happened by during the building tour, demonstrated how the ambulance simulators \u2014 one of three on the floor \u2014 fit into the school\u2019s learning experience.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur (previous) building was shared space between another organization and this program, so we\u2019re in the process of acquiring the equipment for in here,\u201d he explained, including a stretcher, vital functions monitor and defibrillator. \u201cEverything an ambulance has inside, with the idea that the students can run a scenario in the floor space and then move the patient into the ambulance for transport.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPlatt said the open-air ambulance replica models were chosen to maximize student benefit.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou can buy them with television screens and camera, but we chose this because the rest of the students can now stand here and watch what\u2019s happening and do (patient) evaluations in real time, as opposed to spending all the money for a monitor and a camera in there,\u201d he said. \u201cThe nice thing about it is, when it does light up \u2014 we turn the lights off in the room and close the blinds \u2014 we\u2019ll be able to simulate street scenes where they\u2019ll be distracted by the flashing strobe lights that are in the room \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOutside the simulators, three colored LEDs lights allow students to communicate to folks outside the ambulance the condition of the patient, using red, yellow or green. \u201cSo that the evaluators on the outside can see what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNoting that the ambulance simulator is the first of its kind for Pitt, \u201cbut not for the world,\u201d Platt called the amenity \u201cvery exciting. I think it\u2019ll really enhance the (learning and experience) ability of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tJust down the hall from the ambulance simulators are rooms with hospital-like beds.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019ll either be able to do a transfer from a hospital to an ambulance or from an ambulance to a hospital, so our students will actually have the ability to care for a patient in here,\u201d Platt said. \u201cThe patient will already be on a stretcher, (so we) take the stretcher down the hall to another classroom, deliver that patient and give a report.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPlatt envisions further enhancing SHRS\u2019s inter-professional education by having \u201cmaybe the nursing students \u2026 certainly our physician assistant students, come down and visit. They\u2019ll be able to hand off a report right there at bedside to another set of clinicians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \tContinuity and community<\/p>\n \n\tDavid Beck, SHRS interim dean, said the move to the new facility is nearly complete, with some programs and events transitioning through the rest of the semester. Phases of occupancy are aligned to ensure continuity of learning and minimal disruption for students, staff and faculty.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur goal is to have the building completely operational and humming with activity by the start of the next academic year,\u201d he said. \u201cThat timeline honors both the complexity of a move of this scale and the excitement it has generated across our community.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe want to ensure a thoughtful, strategic transition that sets every program up for success from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tContemplating the transition from three campus buildings to a single, fully integrated one, Beck said the legacy of accomplishments and camaraderie of the past will continue to grow at Fifth and Halket.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cForbes Tower, the Murdoch Building and the McKee Professional Building have served us well as homes to countless memories, rigorous training and deep friendships,\u201d he said. \u201cThough our time in each space has varied from decades to a handful of years, we honor what we achieved in them and how SHRS evolved, grew and improved within their walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMost importantly, our people are the ultimate measure of our school\u2019s worth,\u201d Beck added. \u201cThe heart of SHRS has always been our community, and that will never change.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShannon Wells is a\u00a0University Times reporter. Reach him at\u00a0shannonw@pitt.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHave a story idea or news to share?\u00a0Share<\/a>\u00a0it with the University Times.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SHRStom.jpg\" "\\"Tom")
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