$50 million grant paves way for Provo med school

Utah is going to have another medical school — its third — according to an announcement last week from Wasatch Educational, owner of Provo’s Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP). Scheduled to open to its first class of 150 students in August 2021, the institution will be named Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (NCOM). The school will enroll 150 students per year for the first four years and 175 each year thereafter, according to a release from Wasatch Educational.

Named after the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation, which has committed $50 million toward the project, the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine will be an osteopathic medical and research school offering a curriculum and medical technology focused on preparing physicians who will provide healthcare services, including preventative care.

The Noorda donation, along with a significant commitment from the Wasatch Educational and other unnamed donors, will provide most of the funds needed for construction and operation of the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine, the press statement said.

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}“We are honored to partner with the Noorda Foundation and our other partners to bring Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine to Utah County,” said Dr. Michael Skurja, president of Wasatch Educational. “We believe the medical school will inspire and motivate local students to pursue a career in medicine and provide a community choice for those already committed to a medical career while providing an increase in the quality of life for the people of Utah. It should also attract people to Utah County from other states and countries who are interested in becoming physicians.”

Wasatch Educational is considering several Utah County sites for NCOM and has submitted a proposal for its preferred location — a site that would displace 24 acres of Provo’s city-owned East Bay Golf Course — to the Municipal Council for consideration. The proposal drew strong criticism from golfers and a group led by Provo Councilman Kay Van Buren, who organized a protest when word leaked out about the possible sale of the land to Wasatch last month. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled on Dec. 5.

During its first 50 years of operation, NCOM expects to graduate more than 8,750 physicians who may have an estimated 1.4 billion patient encounters and possibly affect the lives of more than 4 billion family members over the course of a standard 40-plus-year career, the company said.

“Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine graduates will become some of the best-educated physicians available,” said Dr. Richard P. Nielsen, vice president of Wasatch Educational. “Over time, the good they will perform will help millions of people, including many hundreds of thousands right here in Utah.”

NCOM and RMUoHP will have an affiliated relationship but will remain independent institutions overseen by separate boards.

NCOM expects to join other Utah medical schools in addressing a growing physician shortage. Research from the Utah Medical Association Council estimates the state will need approximately 375 new physicians each year to meet medical needs. In 2015, the American Medical Association ranked Utah 49th in primary care physicians-to-population ratio and 43rd in overall physicians-to-population ratios. And according to data from Utah universities, approximately 400 students leave the state each year to attend medical school in other states.

According to a recent independent economic impact study by Bonneville Research, the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine will provide more than $62 million in construction business, provide 236 construction-related jobs and bring more than 121 medical school jobs to the county. It may attract other health, medical, biomedical, biotechnology, retail and related spin-off businesses.

If the proposal submitted to Provo city is approved, groundbreaking for NCOM would be in March 2019 with an estimated completion date in January 2021, Wasatch Educational said.

The process of bringing a medical school to Utah County started seven years ago with a feasibility study and started to become a reality about three years ago. The school expects to receive provisional accreditation through the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.{/mprestriction}