KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - A groundbreaking ceremony occurred Friday morning for the new Western Michigan University medical school. <\/p>\n
The school has been granted preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the national accrediting body for educational programs leading to the MD degree. <\/p>\n
\"This is an important step because we now have the go-ahead to recruit students for our first class to begin in August 2014,\" Dr. Hal B. Jenson, MD, MBA, told the ceremony's crowd. <\/p>\n
The medical school is a collaboration involving WMU and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals -- Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare. It has been in planning since 2008. <\/p>\n
In December 2011, William U. Parfet, chairman and CEO of MPI Research in Mattawan, donated the 320,000 square-foot building to WMU to be used by the new medical school. <\/p>\n
In March 2011, WMU received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from anonymous donors. <\/p>\n
The seven-story building at 300 Portage St. in Kalamazoo is located at the heart of the new W.E. Upjohn Campus. A $68 million renovation and expansion project is scheduled to be completed by May 2014, with 30,000 more square feet to be added to the building. <\/p>\n
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WMU School of Medicine building stat sheet (pdf) <\/p>\n
WMU School of Medicine future floor plans (pdf) <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Read the original:<\/p>\n
Ground broken for WMU medical school<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - A groundbreaking ceremony occurred Friday morning for the new Western Michigan University medical school. Continue reading