Private university buys Nevada Cancer Institute building for its med school

By Jackie Valley

Monday, April 13, 2015 | 6 p.m.

The former Nevada Cancer Institute building will remain a part of the region's medical community.

Roseman University of Health Sciences announced Monday that it had purchased the four-story Summerlin building — which will house its future medical school — for $23 million from the University of California, San Diego.

The purchase, finalized Monday, includes office furnishings and some medical equipment, said Jason Roth, vice president of communications for Roseman University.

"We got a pretty good deal," he said.

The 143,000-square-foot building expands Roseman's Summerlin campus, which includes the Ralph & Betty Engelstad Cancer Research Building across the street on Discovery Drive. The former Nevada Cancer Institute building is at 1 Breakthrough Way, near Town Center Drive and the 215 Beltway.

Roseman's College of Medicine expects to welcome its inaugural class of 60 medical students in 2017. The university has been planning its allopathic medical school since 2010 when it established research programs focusing on diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular disease, among others.

In December 2013, Roseman's Board of Trustees approved the university's plan to develop an MD-granting medical school in Southern Nevada. Roseman's College of Medicine began the accreditation process last year.

Roseman officials said Monday's purchase signifies the university's commitment to creating a medical school.

"This acquisition greatly accelerates Roseman's expansion of its Summerlin campus and development of the College of Medicine, allowing the university to increase its already significant contributions to health care and the economies of Clark County and the state, without taxpayer dollars," Roseman University President Renee Coffman said in a statement.

Even so, Roseman — a private, nonprofit university — will need continued philanthropic support to help cover the startup costs associated with launching a medical school and renovating the buildings, Roth said.

"Obviously, we have to retrofit (the buildings) and make them work for the College of Medicine," he said.

The building purchased will provide the medical school with space for learning, student services, biomedical research, community outreach and public-education programs, and administrative and faculty offices, Roseman officials said.

Roseman, founded in 1999, also has campuses in Henderson and South Jordan, Utah. The university currently has a College of Dental Medicine, College of Pharmacy and College of Nursing, in addition to an MBA program.