Here we grow again! Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine announces expansion to new campus in 2021

State, University and Rowan SOM leaders celebrate the groundbreaking for a campus on the grounds of the Rowan College of South Jersey.

After a decade of consistent growth, including a doubling of its class size, the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM) has announced plans to expand to an additional campus on the grounds of the Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ).

Rowan University, RowanSOM, and RCSJ leadership, together with members of the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders and NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney celebrated this singular expansion of the medical school with a ceremonial groundbreaking on Friday, Sept. 13.

"What we are doing is pioneering. There is no other place in the state where a community college has built a medical school on its campus,"; stated Senate President Steve Sweeney. "The partnerships that we have created with Rowan University, Rowan College of South Jersey, the county, and the state will benefit not only our students, but the entire region."

Scheduled to open in 2021, the two-story, 56,454 square foot building will be an important -- and essential -- expansion of clinical services and educational opportunities for South Jersey and the entire region.

"This partnership between the University, the County and Rowan College enables us to provide essential clinical services to Gloucester County and allows our School of Osteopathic Medicine to expand at a time when New Jersey is about to face a significant physician shortage," said Ali Houshmand, President of Rowan University. "Ultimately, our goal is to expand our medical and allied health program offerings throughout the entire Rt. 55 corridor."

The first floor of the new structure will be the new home for Rowan Integrated Special Needs (RISN) Center, providing primary and behavioral health care services for individuals with physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities. RISN, the first special needs primary care facility in South Jersey, opened at another, nearby building earlier this year, is quickly growing as it meets the needs of this previously underserved population. In addition to RISN, the building's first floor will also offer Rowan Medicine services in Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Pain Management.

The second floor will be home to RowanSOM's new campus and represent a dramatic expansion for the nationally acclaimed osteopathic medical school. Admitting its first students in 2021, this new campus continues RowanSOM's impressive growth over the past decade as the school has consistently increased class size to help address the physician shortage predicted for New Jersey and the nation.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Gloucester County Freeholder Lyman Barnes, liaison to education, said, "Constructing these buildings on this campus is a wise investment that will lead to producing a skilled workforce in high demand occupations. The entire community will benefit from the addition of family medicine, pediatrics, a NeuroMusculoskeletal Institute, and the Rowan Integrated Special Needs Center being located here."

RowanSOM Dean Dr. Thomas Cavalieri said the partnership with RCSJ will also create many interprofessional educational opportunities on the campus, noting that research shows that team-based care increases the quality of care for patients.

"This groundbreaking ushers in greatly needed health care opportunities for New Jersey," Dr. Cavalieri said. "It presents opportunities to transform health care and improve the quality of life for the residents of South Jersey."

Economic Development for the region will also increase its presence on the RCSJ campus. The groundbreaking ceremony also marked the construction of a second building on the same site. The new 15,633 square-foot Economic Development Center, slated for completion in September 2020, will house the Gloucester County Department of Economic Development, the Gloucester County Workforce Development Board, the American Job Center of Gloucester County and the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce.

"This is a new day in economic development, creating employer-driven workforce programs, and helping our residents compete in today's workforce," said Freeholder Heather Simmons, liaison to the Department of Economic Development. "Bringing our college, our economic development team, workforce training programs and the chamber of commerce together in one building will continue to move our region forward."

"The addition of the new Rowan campus and the Economic Development Center brings together all sectors of education, medicine and commerce to our campus," stated RCSJ President Frederick Keating. "This groundbreaking ceremony confirms a commitment to enhancing health-care and employment opportunities for students and the surrounding South Jersey region. This is an innovative and robust partnership of which all of us here should be proud."