CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It's taken years, but Charlotte is finally getting a four-year medical school.
The Wake Forest School of Medicine Charlotte campus is expected to break ground early next year. The campus will be located on 20 acres in the Midtown area, at the intersection of Baxter Street and South McDowell Street. That's less than a mile from Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center.
Atrium Health and Wake Forest Baptist Health recently combined as a single enterprise.
"It will be one of the most significant investments this community and this state has ever seen and I would say one of the largest job creation programs in the entire state...this will be at least that level of investment if not more,” President and Chief Executive Officer of Atrium Health Eugene Woods says.
The new school is expected to generate $5.2 billion of economic impact and create nearly 43,000 jobs over the next 20 years. It's a big deal because school leaders say Charlotte is currently the largest city in the country without a four-year medical school.
The school is expected to open in 2024 and eventually educate around 400 students at a time. Atrium also created the Bishop George E. Battle Jr. Scholarship Fund to support students in underserved communities who are pursuing a degree in health science at an Atrium Health-affiliated school.
