Behind-the-scenes efforts to establish a medical school in Lebanon continue to move ahead.

The latest sign of progress came from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association. The Commission approved the application from Pomona-based Western University of Health Sciences to open a medical school here.

Western will partner with Samaritan Health Services (SHS) on the project. The school will be built on the 51-acre health sciences campus to be developed across from Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.

The first group of 100 medical students from Western's "Northwest Track" are expected to begin classes in Lebanon in August 2011. They will be followed by an additional 100 students for each of the next three years to complete the projected enrollment of 400 students.

"This approval represents a significant milestone in our efforts to develop the new medical school and expand the supply of physicians in our region and in Oregon," said SHS President/CEO Larry Mullins. "We can now finalize our partnership with Western and begin construction plans."

Mullins said work will begin this summer on the site preparation, to be followed by building construction.

The Lebanon Planning Commission approved the general development plan for the medical campus on Oct. 15. The plan calls for a mixed-use development on about 55 acres across Highway 20 from Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital. In addition to the college campus, the plan calls for an event center, commercial/retail space, office space, a research/industrial park and a hotel/conference center.

The event center and Western's college building will be the first structures up.

Discussions continue on other health-related facilities to be built on the campus in future years.

"The medical school will serve as the initial 'anchor' for the campus, with other related projects to follow," Mullins said.

The construction of the medical school represents a continuation of the partnership between SHS and Western. SHS currently hosts third- and fourth-year medical students from Western, who are completing one-year clerkships with local physicians.

Beginning in July, SHS will oversee physician residencies in family practice, internal medicine and psychiatry. A total of 10 graduating medical students will be selected for these residencies, which last between three and four years. Residency represents the final element of physician training where the knowledge gained is put into practice.

Western University developed a Northwest Track in 2004. It allowed Western to increase its class size for students from Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. These students completed the first two years of their medical education in Pomona and the final two years in clinical rotations in the Northwest.

The regional medical school will allow those students to complete their entire medical education in the Northwest.