From Santa Maria to San Luis Obispo, A.T. Still University is moving its medical school to a new location.
After opening its third campus in Santa Maria in 2021, A.T. Still University of Health Sciences is moving north, signing a lease for space at the Mindbody Headquarters in San Luis Obispo.
In a statement, President of the ATSU Arizona and California campuses, Dr. O.T. Wendel, explained, “The new campus will allow ATSU to expand health professions degree offerings and assist with solving local workforce, patient care, and health professions education needs.”
“That will be a future pipeline for our physician offices and our hospitals. It's really a tremendous partnership," said Sue Andersen, President and CEO of Dignity Health Central Coast Hospitals.
Andersen also sits on one of the community boards of ATSU and said that physician assistants and nurses are needed in our area.
“By supplementing our physician offices with physician assistants, that's going to help take care of some of the problem, as well as the other programs that they're adding," Andersen said.
The campus, which includes an existing 65,000 square foot building and a 400-space parking structure currently occupied by Mind Body, Inc., provides the two-year master’s program with more space to offer additional nursing and physical therapy schooling.
“To see them expanding their programs to serve the needs of our community is so exciting," local Heather Muran stated.
Muran's stepdaughter is one of almost 80 students graduating this week from ATSU in Santa Maria. She will become a physician’s assistant.
“It's helped my stepdaughter really hone in on the skills that she's passionate about to become a physician's assistant,” Muran said.
The school will be next to the new Dignity Health Cancer facility that is slated to open around the same time, according to Andersen.
The lease is signed, with the move expected to take place in the summer of 2026.
