The State reports that the university envisions construction of a four-building campus on 14 acres it owns near Palmetto Health Richland Hospital. The medical school would move there from its existing site next to the Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Columbia.
The proposed campus would include a new medical school building, a life-science facility, a private medical-research office and a parking garage. Two more buildings could be added and shared by the university and the hospital.
University officials say opening a new school of medicine with additional research space is more practical than trying to upgrade the existing medical school. Building a new campus also would provide a development boost.
