Tower Health plans to build a medical school on part of the former VF Outlet property in Wyomissing, officials announced Tuesday.
The health system is looking to construct a 200,000-square-foot building for a four-year regional campus of the Drexel University College of Medicine.
While not indicating how much the project might cost, Tower officials said it should be open in time for the 2021-22 academic year.
This is an exciting step in Tower Health’s evolution of our academic mission, Clint Matthews, Tower Health’s president and CEO, said in a statement. Our affiliation with Drexel, one of the finest medical schools in the country, will help us address projected physician shortages in our region, bring improved access and services to our patients, and provide significant economic benefit to the entire Reading area.
Tower Health has signed a memorandum of understanding with Equus Capital Partners Ltd. to build the new campus as part of the Knitting Mills development project.
Equus, a Delaware County-based developer, has been working to redevelop the iconic VF Outlet Center and a 19-acre tract north of the outlet buildings.
The medical school would be on an unused parking lot east of Willoughby’s on Park on North Park Road. That land used to serve as an overflow parking area for the VF Outlet when thousands of travelers would come by bus to shop there.
Tower officials said the new medical school’s location was a strong selling point, as it’s less than a mile from the Reading Hospital campus in West Reading.
Tower’s proposed medical school project still needs to clear the local zoning approval process before moving ahead, officials said.
Drexel, Tower Health
In April, Tower Health and Drexel announced their partnership to bring a four-year medical school to Berks County.
Matthews said at the time that the move would set Reading Hospital on the path to become an academic medical center and would allow the next generation of physicians to be trained in Berks County.
The new campus in Reading is cause for excitement, as it opens up new training opportunities for Drexel College of Medicine students and enhances Tower Health’s impact throughout the region, Drexel President John Fry said in a statement Tuesday.
For the first year, education, classroom and lab instruction will take place in Reading Hospital’s School of Health Sciences in West Reading, officials said.
About 40 medical students will arrive at Reading Hospital for the 2020-21 academic year. The branch campus will educate 200 students when it’s fully up and running.
Renewal at site
George Haines said the medical school is the latest good news for the Knitting Mills development.
It’s a fantastic sign for the project and for the whole community, said Haines, vice president of property acquisition for Equus Capital Partners Ltd. It’s a great use for the site.
Earlier this month, initial construction began on a new medical-device research lab that will be located near the medical school campus.
On the other side of the railroad tracks, the developer is working on a $70 million plan to transform the 34-acre outlet center into a mixed-use office and retail space.
We’ve come a great way from what we bought in December 2016 to what’s happened up to today, Haines said. It’s a vibrant mixed-use environment with some of the region’s most dynamic companies.”
Article source: https://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/tower-health-drexel-college-of-medicine-will-build-medical-school-on-former-vf-outlets-property