Dublin, Ohio site to be negotiated, purchased
for medical school campus

(11.18.11 – Athens, OH) The Ohio University Board of Trustees today voted unanimously to approve a resolution to negotiate and acquire real
estate for the development of the Ohio University Heritage College
of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) central Ohio extension campus. The property is located at 7001-7003 Post Road in Dublin, Ohio.

The property, which includes 14.847 acres of land and three existing structures, will be purchased for $11,000,000 by Ohio University.

“We are in an important and exciting transition in the life of Ohio University,” said Sandra Anderson, chair of the Board’s resource committee. “Our student trustees on the board will be able to say, ‘I was there when we decided to open a medical school campus in Columbus.”

“This will be an ideal location to prepare first- and second- year medical students for their third- and fourth-year rotations at community hospitals throughout central Ohio,” said John A. Brose, D.O., executive dean for health affairs at Ohio University and dean of OU-HCOM.

Beginning in August 2014, 50 medical students are slated to train at this site.  The campus and its curriculum will address the growing need for primary care physicians, especially in urban and underserved areas of the region.

According to Dr. Brose, the site was selected based upon criteria developed in collaboration with a university selection team, and assisted by central Ohio real estate legal counsel appointed by the Ohio Attorney General. A number of criteria were used to select the site. Among them were safety of students, location in proximity to the college’s partnering training hospitals, and the cost to acquire the property and either remodel or build within the college’s timeline.

"This is an historic day for Ohio University,” said Roderick J. McDavis, president of Ohio University. “The opportunity to expand the reach of our mission in this way is made possible by the transformational gift from The Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. Strengthened by this gift, we will be able to positively change more lives."

Funding for the purchase was made available from the April 2011 gift to the college from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. The $105 million gift supports many initiatives developed during the college’s 2010-2011 strategic planning process, including initiatives to reengineer primary care education and service to Ohio; to enhance the college’s community care programs; and to expand our medical research and research education endeavors.

“Identifying a home for the central Ohio campus is a significant step in the medical college’s plan to enhance access to primary care physicians,” said Richard Vincent, president and CEO of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. “Having a specific location for the campus provides a physical demonstration of the progress being made in implementing the college’s strategic plan. The campus site is in a safe, convenient and welcoming community, providing opportunities for expansion.”

The Foundations’ gift is the largest gift ever given to a public institution of higher education in Ohio and the fourth largest gift ever given to a U.S. medical school.

Dr. Brose noted that this new campus is built upon the college’s longstanding relationship with OhioHealth’s Doctors Hospital and other hospital partners in central Ohio.

The college will be working closely with the Ohio University Office of Facilities Planning & Space Management on the renovations and improvements necessary to accommodate the college’s physician training programs.