University of Oklahoma officials broke ground on the University of Oklahoma Wayman Tisdale Specialty Health Center, to be located at 36th Street North and Hartford Avenue.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of this year.

The facility will serve patients in north, east and west Tulsa and will focus on specialty care, including the treatment of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

According to OU-Tulsa faculty research, life expectancy in north, east and west Tulsa neighborhoods is 14 years less than neighborhoods in south Tulsa. Additionally, for every one physician in north, east and west Tulsa, there are 26 physicians in midtown and south Tulsa.

More than 30 OU physicians will practice at the Tisdale Center, and more than 150 health care professionals will be employed there.

Funding for the 50,000-SF, $20 million facility came from a variety of public and private sources, including $6 million from the State Legislature, $4 million from University Hospitals Authority & Trust, $3 million from the George Kaiser Family Foundation, $3.5 million from anonymous donors, $1 million from the Morningside Healthcare Foundation, $1 million from Saint Francis Health System, $750,000 from the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation and $750,000 from the Helmerich Foundation.

St. John Medical Center pledged $1 million in medical equipment support.