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s our nation’s leaders continue to battle over the issues surrounding health care — now perhaps more than any other time in history — Liberty University is keeping its finger on the pulse of the growing needs of the industry. There’s no bigger sign of this commitment than the new Center for Medical and Health Sciences, now under construction on Liberty Mountain overlooking the main campus. The 138,000-square-foot, four-story facility will house the College of Osteopathic Medicine and several departments in Liberty’s School of Health Sciences. The goal is to place comprehensively trained, service-oriented, and clinically excellent physicians and other health care professionals into underserved areas of the state. Expected to be completed by Spring 2014, the program will matriculate its first class of osteopathic medical students in Fall 2014. The $40 million facility will include a comprehensive medical clinic, extensive resource center and library, research center with
multiple labs, and state-of-the-art simulation and standardized patient education facility. The College of Osteopathic Medicine will become the second such school in the state and the 30th in the country. It will grant a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree, which has the same unlimited practice rights as the more common M.D. degree, but places a more prominent emphasis on a holistic, preventative health, patient-centered approach. At the groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 9, Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. called the project “the last piece of the puzzle” in his father’s vision to build a world-class university that would train Champions for Christ in all professions. “I’m thrilled that all of you are getting to see the fulfillment of the dream and the vision take place,” Falwell told the crowd. Members of Liberty’s administration, board of trustees, Lynchburg City Council, Campbell County Board of Supervisors, and the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission were present at the event, as well as architects and contractors.
Other local and regional leaders in attendance included Del. Kathy Byron (a member of the Tobacco Commission), Del. Scott Garrett, Michael Bryant, the CEO of Centra Health; Dr. Matt Johnson, the vice president for medical affairs at Centra; and Maria Harris, the executive director of the Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association. Falwell said he was humbled to see how so many people have contributed to the project, calling it “the completion of a circle.” “We knew the time had come to do this because there were so many signs that were providential. The right people were sent here, the Tobacco Commission so graciously helped us out … all the factors came together,” he said. “It couldn’t have happened without everything falling into place, without God’s intervention.” Falwell said the site, facing the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west, will no doubt be the medical school with the best view in the country. It was selected because of its location in Campbell County, making the school eligible to apply for grants from the Tobacco >>
Groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 9, 2012
KEVIN MANGUIOB
LIBERTY JOURNAL
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