The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine marked the opening of a new Support Services Building on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Campus leadership and representatives from environmental health, facilities, shipping and receiving, and the Clinical Trials Office officially marked the building’s opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by building tours for all staff and a cook-out reception.

The Support Services Building is a two-story, nearly 43,000-square-foot facility located to the west of the main Medical Center and College of Medicine building and behind the Biomedical Research Building. The new building was needed to accommodate the growing support services infrastructure required to meet the needs of an expanding Medical Center and College of Medicine campus.

The Support Services Building allows the majority of Clinical Trials Office functions to be co-located in one building for the first time. Benefits for facilities and other trade staff include expanded, modern space in which to work and daylight. Many of these employees have been located in cramped space in the Medical Center basement and ground level. Not all trades are moving into the new building. Carpentry and refrigeration, for example, are staying in their current location but expect to increase their space as part of the backfill in the main Medical Center building.

Shipping and receiving staff will benefit from eight above-ground loading docks and increased storage space that will let them to better handle modern vehicles and the enormous volume of materials the Medical Center receives daily.

The $19-million facility was built by Alexander Building Construction Co., which previously had built the Medical Center’s Centerview Parking Garage, University Fitness/Conference Center and Biomedical Research Building.

To view a video of the ribbon-cutting ceremony and other activities related to the opening of the new Support Services Building, go to http://youtu.be/gTvV6vlcucA online.