The University of Missouri wants to establish a clinical campus in Springfield in an expansion of the university's medical school, but first it needs a 5,000- to 6,000-square-foot building between the city's two major hospitals.
The Springfield News-Leader reports university officials met with city leaders this week to discuss a $40 million plan that includes spending $36 million to expand the medical school on the university's Columbia campus.
The Springfield building would house about a dozen full-time employees and be relatively small because medical students coming to Springfield would spend most of their time at Cox South and Mercy hospitals.
University officials say expansion is necessary to address a projected national shortage of 90,000 physicians by 2020.