Roseman med school buys Summerlin building for $23 million

Roseman University of Health Sciences on Monday bought the flagship building of the former Nevada Cancer Institute in Summerlin for $23 million, an important asset as the school looks to open to students in 2017.

The purchase expands the medical school’s campus, which already includes the nearby Ralph & Betty Engelstad Cancer Research Building. The Engelstad building was acquired in November 2013 through a merger and the absorption of the Nevada Cancer Institute Foundation.

Roseman President Renee Coffman said the purchase, from the University of California, San Diego, and the assets acquired through the merger with the Nevada Cancer Institute Foundation show the school has infrastructure it needs. The building will provide space for student services, biomedical research, community outreach, public education programs, and administrative and faculty offices.

Dr. Mark Penn, founding dean for Roseman’s College of Medicine, said creation of a medical education facility will preserve the intent of donors who contributed to the former Nevada Cancer Institute, which opened in 2005 and served thousands of patients before closing in January 2013. Despite the change in ownership, the facility will continue to provide patient services and medical research, he said.

“We’re really trying to meet community needs,” Penn said. “We’re going to be turning this into something a little bit different, but we’re going to build off of the things that were started here.”

It was the second significant move in a week from Southern Nevada’s two planned medical schools.

UNLV’s School of Medicine raised $3.8 million in a scholarship drive, expected to help recruit students once that is allowed. It was bolstered by a $2.5 million commitment from the Engelstad Family Foundation.

Officials hope to raise a total of $6 million, providing $100,000 to relieve the debt burden for each student in the first UNLV medical school class.

The UNLV medical school also expects to start classes in 2017. Both UNLV and Roseman are pursuing accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. They are in applicant status for pre-accredited medical schools, and they hope to be granted preliminary accreditation by June 2016, when they can start recruiting students.

Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563.