Building the Future: UNC’s College of Osteopathic Medicine Takes Shape

Visible progress has been made on the University of Northern Colorado’s new College of Osteopathic Medicine, a multimillion-dollar project expected to transform both the campus and the region’s healthcare landscape. After breaking ground on September 28, 2024, the site has steadily transformed, marking a major step toward the school’s anticipated opening.

For UNC, the project represents more than just another building. It’s a chance to reshape the university’s identity, expand opportunities for students and address pressing healthcare shortages in northern Colorado and beyond. At the heart of the progress is the UNC construction workers who work daily to bring this vision to life. Dago Venzor, a construction worker on the site, described the importance of his role in the project.

“As a project field engineer, you’re kind of in charge of the construction process,” Venzor said. “I take care of the site, so anything dealing with asphalt, curbing, gutters or sidewalks, all your utilities, so your power, your building, where all the water will be going to, the water supply of the building. I’m in charge of all of that. I’m the foundation right here.”

Currently, the crew is finishing what is known as the superstructure stage, the process of putting up the steel framework of the building. Venzor said the next step will be enclosing the structure and starting on the inside.

“The next stage will be skins, which is all the outside walls, all your brick veneer or stucco,” Venzor said. “While that’s going, we will be putting on the roof as well as starting the interior.”

Though Venzor joined the project in January, he has already seen rapid progress.

“With the pace we’re going, it’s super tight and super fast,” he said. “We got through foundations within three months and then after foundations was superstructure, which started about two months ago.”

The team is currently on schedule, but the work has not come without challenges. Venzor explained that long lead times for materials have created obstacles.

“This is a design-build project,” Venzor said. “We’ve worked with the engineers to suggest different ways to get this building up and going, but the main point would be just the production of things, long lead times, which affect the schedule. So, trying to work around that has been one of our biggest roadblocks.”

Still, there have been successes. Venzor said bringing on key subcontractors early has helped keep the project on pace to open on time, but that's not the only thing pushing the crew forward. Venzor said what motivates him most is knowing what the building will mean to UNC and its students once it opens.

“That’s one of the main purposes I wake up every day to continue on this project,” Venzor said. “It’s giving other younger people opportunity to follow what they want. I graduated from construction management back in December, so knowing that we’re building opportunities for people is what keeps me going and making sure that we get this thing delivered on time.”

When asked what message he would give to the first students walking through the doors of the medical school, Venzor’s answer was simple.

“I’d tell them follow their dreams,” Venzor said. “There was a lot of work put into this building, so hopefully they get what they’re coming here for and just be appreciative of the work that we did. That’s all I look for.”

The UNC College of Osteopathic Medicine is scheduled to open in February 2026. Until then, workers like Venzor will continue shaping what is expected to be one of the university’s most important projects in decades.