BROOKINGS, S.D. (9-18-26) — South Dakota State University has been educating nursing and pharmacy students in Sioux Falls for nearly 30 years, but for most members of the community, it was likely a well-kept secret.
Now those programs, along with others, have a new, highly visible healthcare education home base in the heart of the city.
University and city officials and community members celebrated the opening of the SDSU Metro Center at 33rd Street and Minnesota Avenue in Sioux Falls on Sept. 17 with a ribbon-cutting and block party, not long after construction wrapped up.
The building, formerly a grocery store and then a home medical equipment facility, was gifted to the SDSU Alumni & Foundation by Avera in April 2024 to expand healthcare workforce training. The Avera Clinical Learning Hub is the home for simulation within the building. Twenty-two different donors have already made gifts to sponsor spaces in the Metro Center.
TSP Inc. designed the space, and Journey Group handled construction, working around ongoing health sciences classes and labs.
“Avera is proud to partner with SDSU to expand health sciences education and prepare skilled, compassionate professionals our communities need,” Avera President and CEO Jim Dover said. “This new home for SDSU’s Sioux Falls programs will strengthen clinical training and connect students with meaningful careers for generations to come.”
This facility is just one of the most visible examples of SDSU’s expanding presence in Sioux Falls, strengthening the university’s role in educating the workforce and serving the communities of South Dakota.
“Nearly 40,000 vehicles pass this intersection every day. Our healthcare education programs have been in Sioux Falls for three decades, but in separate locations and not visible to the public,” SDSU President Barry Dunn said. “In the beautiful new Metro Center, they are located in one building, in a near-perfect location for students to access their clinical experiences and highly visible to the Sioux Falls community.”
The building is centrally located within a few miles of the hospitals in Sioux Falls.
The more than 44,000-square-foot space includes classrooms, simulation space, a skills lab and clinical spaces and ample student success and study areas shared by both the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions and the College of Nursing. In addition to future nurses and pharmacists, the newly refurbished facility hosts students studying respiratory therapy, medical laboratory science and public health.
“An exciting aspect of bringing these academic programs in Sioux Falls together under one roof is creating more opportunities for interprofessional teaching and learning,” said Dennis Hedge, SDSU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Bringing future nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals together in shared learning is key to preparing them to enter the workforce ready to deliver coordinated, high-quality patient care.”
The Metro Center is only going to increase the university’s impact on South Dakota.
“SDSU already graduates more healthcare workers than any university in the state or region. This facility gives us the capacity to increase by 40% the number of Sioux Falls healthcare graduates we will educate,” Dunn added. “Over the next five years, we expect 1,200 future healthcare professionals to learn in this building before serving patients in healthcare facilities across South Dakota and the region.”
Staff spaces also include offices for SDSU Connect, Admissions, a student success coordinator, and the Center for Online and Professional Education.
About South Dakota State University
Founded in 1881, South Dakota State University is the state’s Morrill Act land-grant institution as well as its largest, most comprehensive school of higher education. SDSU confers degrees from seven different colleges representing more than 230 majors, minors and specializations. The institution also offers 39 master’s degree programs, 17 Ph.D. and two professional programs.
The work of the university is carried out on a residential campus in Brookings, at sites in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City, and through Extension offices and Agricultural Experiment Station research sites across the state. SDSU’s research expenditures for the 2025 fiscal year were more than $94 million. SDSU has a Doctoral University: High Research Activity designation on The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
For more information: SDSU News • www.sdstate.edu
— From SDSU University Marketing an Communications
