If all goes as planned, a new medical school will rise in the vacant lot across from Lebanon Community Hospital in the next few years.

Samaritan Health Services (SHS) has announced a partnership with Western University of Health Sciences of Pomona, Calif., to develop a college of osteopathic medicine here. It will be part of a health sciences campus with a variety of health professions programs.

The 51-acre site, owned by Lebanon Community Hospital, also will hold a conference and event center, medical office building, hotel and restaurant complex and other support services. The LCH Foundation has talked about such facilities - minus the medical school - for several years.

The partnership will be formally announced at a Jan. 22 event in Lebanon.

"It's an exciting vision for the future," said SHS president/CEO Larry A. Mullins. "We see a lot of potential, great opportunities here."

After months of discussions and multiple site visits, the two organizations are forming a task force to complete a feasibility study and draft agreements to establish the college of osteopathic medicine. The task force is to complete its work in 2008.

"We got a lot more work ahead of us than behind us," Mullins said.

Conversations leading to the announcement began in mid-2006 when Mullins was introduced to leaders at Western, who were interested in expanding their offerings in the northwest.

"Then one step led to another," he said.

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

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

"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 professionals 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."

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

The health campus represents the next step in a growing partnership between Samaritan and Western, Mullins said. The two currently collaborate 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.

Mullins said SHS will 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 depends on funding by the Legislature.

SHS now offers educational experiences to more than 900 students annually at its various locations, including the Health Careers and Training Center at SLCH. LBCC offers a number of health occupations courses in classroom and laboratory space at the center.

The LCH Foundation will take the lead in raising 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.

Mullins said the conference center will be the first building constructed, with work beginning within 24 months.

Fast facts

Western University of Health Sciences

About 2,300 students attend Western University of Health Sciences, 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. The Western campus is in Pomona, Calif.

College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP)

The College of Osteopathic Medicine (COMP) of the Pacific is one of the several medical colleges at Western.

Its graduates are doctors of osteopathic medicine (DO).

DOs receive the same basic medical education as medical doctors (MDs), said Larry A. Mullins, president and CEO of Samaritan Health Services. DOs and MDs have to have the same competencies to be licensed by the state. The primary difference is in training, although they participate in the same residency programs.

According to the COMP website, its education program focuses on "the interdependence of biological, clinical, behavioral and social sciences." It teaches that the musculoskeletal system in the body is primary, that the human body has the capacity to maintain health and overcome disease, and that doctors must know when to refer a patient to a specialist.

Samaritan and Western

Due to the need for physicians in the northwest, the college set up a northwest track a few years ago. The northwest track sets aside 30 seats for students who live in or have a degree from a four-year university in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska.

The students take their first two years of classes at the Pomona campus then complete two years of clinical clerkships in the northwest. Third-year Western students began clinical rotations at Samaritan hospitals last fall.

For more information about Western, visit www.westernu.edu.