New College of Medicine Coming to Mid-Willamette Valley

Samaritan Health Services currently offers educational experiences to more than 900 students annually at its various locations,

(LEBANON, Ore. ) - Samaritan Health Services plans to partner with Pomona-based Western University of Health Sciences to develop a college of osteopathic medicine as part of a health sciences campus in Lebanon.

The campus will offer a variety of health professions programs in addition to a conference and events center, medical office building, hotel and restaurant complex and other support services.

After months of discussions and multiple site visits, the two organizations have agreed to form a task force to complete a feasibility study and draft the resulting agreements to establish a college of osteopathic medicine as part of a 51-acre campus across from Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital. The task force is to complete its work in 2008.

In addition to osteopathic medicine, other programs under consideration for the campus include nursing, physical therapy, paramedic training and other health-related professions, SHS President/CEO Larry A. Mullins said.

Although many of the programs would be developed in conjunction with Western, Mullins said Legacy Health Systems and Linn-Benton Community College have expressed interest in having a presence on the campus for their own educational, clinical, outreach and research programs. Discussions are also taking place with other potential partners.

While the task force is working to finalize plans for the college of osteopathic medicine, Mullins said the Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation has agreed to take the lead in raising community funds for the conference and events center to be used by students as well as the general community.

Plans for the center include an auditorium/lecture hall, flexible meeting room space, a catering kitchen and outdoor garden area. A private developer will be selected for the hotel/restaurant project and the medical office building.

The health campus project represents the next step in a growing partnership between Samaritan and Western, Mullins said. The two are currently collaborating on a program that places third- and fourth-year medical students in a series of clinical rotations with Samaritan-affiliated hospitals. SHS also plans to apply for accreditation to offer graduate medical education, such as residencies and fellowships, in a number of physician specialty areas.

“There is a strong link between where physicians do their training and where they end up practicing medicine, so we believe these steps will greatly strengthen our ability to recruit and retain outstanding physicians to the area,” Mullins said. “Most of the medical students here now are from the Pacific Northwest, and they have encouraged us to establish residency programs so they can stay in this area after medical school.”

Western University President Philip Pumerantz, Ph.D., said there is a need for additional graduate health education in the nation, and a number of factors ultimately led to pursuing the partnership with SHS.

“This is an opportunity here in Oregon to put in place the elements which will, in a few short years, lead to the establishment of a multi health professions satellite campus of Western University of Health Sciences,” he said. Benjamin Cohen, D.O., provost and chief operating officer at Western, said that SHS is “an extraordinary hospital system that is steeped in the highest quality of health care delivery with a humanitarian approach of care. This approach also underlines the curricular and clinical experience at Western University, and we are pleased to partner with an organization that practices what we teach.”

Approximately 2,300 students currently attend Western University, which offers graduate programs in pharmacy, nursing, veterinary medicine, and allied health professions in addition to osteopathic medicine. The university will open four new programs in 2009: dentistry, optometry, podiatry and graduate biomedical sciences.

Mullins said SHS will also continue to pursue medical education opportunities in partnership with Oregon Health & Sciences University, Oregon State University and other higher education institutions. SHS, OHSU and OSU signed a letter of intent last year to host OHSU medical students in Corvallis as part of their training, but that program has not yet been funded by the Legislature.

SHS currently offers educational experiences to more than 900 students annually at its various locations, including the Health Careers and Training Center at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital. The center provides classroom and laboratory space for a number of health occupations in conjunction with Linn-Benton Community College.