Utah Prepares for Construction of Second Medical School

IVINS, Utah — Construction begins this week on the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Southern Utah, which will be the second campus for the Colorado-based medical school. It will also be Utah’s second medical school; University of Utah School of Medicine being the first.

The project will include a 104,000-square-foot main building and three, adjacent student housing facilities on a 30-acre parcel of land that surrounds the Southern Utah Veterans Home. Beginning with the main building, construction is expected to last through June 2017, with classes starting that fall.

Almost a month behind schedule, Ivins Mayor Chris Hart told St. George News that construction is now on a fast track. A silt fence has been installed around the property as the construction team begins grading for site preparation.

Rocky Vista will admit between 125 and 150 students its first year, with the same number expected the following year, reported St. George News. Thomas N. Told, the school’s dean and chief academic officer, told KSL.com, a local news source, that a large number of students at the medical school’s Parker, Colo., campus are from Utah.

“There was a great deal of interest there,” Rostenthal said to KSL.com. “Primarily most of those candidates would have had to go out of state to pursue their medical education, since obviously the only other medical school is the University of Utah and they have a limited class size. This is our way of being able to keep more Utah residents in state for their medical education.”

The first class of students will be able to start applying as early as May, with interviews planned for September. Medical students will spend the first two years in classes, followed by two years at off-campus, regional hospitals and clinics. Their final two years will be spent in residency programs in the Rocky Mountain region, according to St. George News.

In addition to the new facility, Rocky Vista also acquired the former Snow Canyon Clinic to be used for administrative offices and clinical practice. The building will be renovated this spring and summer, and student interviews will be conducted at the office in the fall.