Roseman University gets $10M for budding medical school
With studies underway for UNLV’s first class of medical school students, another budding Southern Nevada medical school has reached a milestone, too.
Roseman University College of Medicine on Thursday announced a $10 million pledge gift from the Engelstad Family Foundation, which will help advance the opening of the school.
“This is really a very important moment for the history of Roseman,” said Dr. Mark Penn, founding dean for the medical school.
“We don’t have state support, so we rely on other money, resources to support what we try to do. We’re thrilled they want to partner with us this way.”
The donation is the largest in the Henderson university’s history and kicks off a $66 million fundraising campaign.
The medical school will be in Summerlin, where the campus nursing school is. Roseman, which opened in 1999, also has a campus in South Jordan, Utah.
The money is needed to hire critical faculty and staff, an important step as the school continues through a new accreditation process.
In June 2016, Roseman suffered a setback when the Liaison Committee on Medical Education — the committee that accredits doctor of medicine programs in the U.S. and Canada — declined to grant the school preliminary accreditation.
At the time, Roseman was following a similar path to accreditation as UNLV but was a little ahead in the process and could have been the first accredited allopathic medical school in Southern Nevada.
Penn said out of 93 items reviewed by the committee, the school fell short in only one area: financial resources.
“We’re having to build things from scratch,” Penn said. “It’s taking a little longer, but we’re going to get there. This gift has given me a lot of great hope.”
The school now has a new goal to achieve accreditation and enroll its first class of 64 students in the summer of 2019, Penn said.
The gift comes two years after the Engelstad Family Foundation made a pledge of the same amount to UNLV’s new school. UNLV used its $10 million to cover 100 full scholarships.
In addition to the pledge from Engelstad, Roseman needs $25 million to fulfill the first phase of its Breakthrough in Medicine! campaign.
“It’s going to be a pivotal moment for us,” Penn said.
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
Did you know?
Roseman University began building the foundation for its M.D.-granting institution in 2010 through the establishment of medical research programs. On December 13, 2013, the Board of Trustees of Roseman University unanimously approved the university's plan to develop an allopathic medical school in Southern Nevada. The College of Medicine is housed at Roseman University's Summerlin campus.
