The University of Washington School of Dentistry has signed a lease to create an oral health care training center in the UW-Gonzaga University Health Partnership’s 840 Building, at 840 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.

The training center is intended to support the UW School of Dentistry’s growing Regional Initiatives in Dental Education, or RIDE, program.

The roughly 13,000-square-foot facility will include a dental simulation lab, digital dentistry lab, classroom, and administrative spaces.

A building permit application on file with the city of Spokane shows a proposed valuation of $3 million for the renovation of the space. Construction is planned to start in December, with students expected to begin training in the new space in mid-2025.

Through a partnership established between Eastern Washington University and the UW School of Dentistry in 2008, the RIDE program trains doctor of dental surgery students in Spokane, preparing them to work in rural and underserved areas of Washington state.

“This investment will enable us to scale the program to meet the needs of our region,” Dr. Art DiMarco, RIDE’s Spokane director and EWU faculty member, says in a release. “The partnership with Eastern Washington University is a huge part of RIDE’s success in Spokane, and the new training space opens up more possibilities for interdisciplinary training and access to digital technologies, which will benefit students in both schools.”

In spring 2024, the RIDE program secured $2.5 million in funding through the Washington State Legislature to expand the program.

The funding doubles the number of students in the program to 64 from 32 and adds a second year of regional instruction. It also supports the development of the new training space at the 840 Building.

Developed by Emerald Initiative LLC, an affiliate of Seattle-based McKinstry Co., the 840 Building was completed in 2022 and is home to the UW-GU Health Partnership, a collaboration aimed at improving health throughout the region through education, innovation, and research.

“We are excited to welcome RIDE to our expanding health science ecosystem,” John Sklut, GU’s executive director for the UW-GU Health Partnership, says in the release. “The growing number of academic programs in close proximity continues to advance the development of multidisciplinary approaches to education while promoting community health and preparing our region’s next generation of health care providers.”

The first cohort of RIDE students graduated in 2012. Since then, 80% of its graduates have returned to practice in rural and underserved areas of Washington and the region, which includes Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska.

The new RIDE training center will occupy about half of the top floor of the four-story building. The remaining 12,000 square feet of space on that floor is still available for lease.

Seattle-based CollinsWoerman Co. and McKinstry are leading the design of the training facility. Spokane-based Bouten Construction Co. is listed on the permit application as the contractor for the project.