Pearl District - Atrium/Wake Forest School of Medicine

[KJHburg]

 

[kermit]

made a few discoveries over the weekend that I wanted to share related to the Med School.

Charlotte has made great strides as a tech town with the emergence of Fintech. However, Charlotte's tech landscape is quite limited outside of Fintech. Brookings did a 2019 analysis of potential new growth clusters and analyzed 35 potential metros in terms of their abilities to support a broadly defined tech cluster.  Charlotte ranked 3rd from the bottom of this list (only Birmingham and Columbia SC were ranked lower). See table below.  https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Full-Report-Growth-Centers_PDF_BrookingsMetro-BassCenter-ITIF.pdf

According to the Brookings analysis Charlotte's weak points as a tech center are:

• University research (Charlotte ranks last)
• Patents (Charlotte only outranks Nashville, Birmingham and Columbia)
• # of STEM doctoral degree holders (only 5 metros are worse)
• Innovation sector job share (e.g. the current size of the tech sector) (only 5 metros are worse)

Not examined by Brookings was the availability of funding for tech startups. NC fares poorly in all measures of venture capital availability, with Charlotte being particularly disadvantaged.

Fortunately for Charlotte, the Medical School is likely to change all of these metrics:

• Access to NIH money along with Wake's existing expertise in regenerative medicine will bring tons of research dollars to Charlotte
• Medical technology is a field that tends to seek lots of patents (I tend to think of patents as a BS measure of innovation since some activities (like software development) seek few patents but I digress)
• Obviously the research arm of the med school will bring in a bunch of STEM advanced degree holders
• These researchers (and the follow on firms they create) will substantially increase the size of the local tech sector.

The better news is that none of this activity is related to our still nascent Fintech sector. When taken together (which analysis like this will do), Charlotte will have a substantial local tech sector. It will still be a good bit smaller than RTP, but (depending on Med School success and continued growth of Fintech) it may rank in the top 10 nationwide. This critical mass could lead to VC firms setting up offices here (resolving the financial roadblock).

As an aside, the press release for the new Med School site touts 3,500 students per year. While the number is not specific to Med students, this is a much larger figure than a medical school like Duke (422 total students), Chapel Hill (765) or WFU (Winston) (580). The numbers at left are only for potential MDs, I suspect the press release number includes nursing students among others.  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/03/24/medical-school-midtown-location-announcement.html

tldr: the future is bright for the Charlotte economy getting up-skilled.

[KJHburg]

Local rotations have begun for Wake Medical School at Atrium hospitals here in Charlotte.

""Medical students from Wake Forest School of Medicine began rotations with Atrium Health this spring, with more set to arrive next month. Seven third-year students started at Carolinas Medical Center in mid-March as part of their clerkships. Students can interact with faculty, resident physicians and other providers in inpatient and outpatient settings. The goal is to gain skills necessary to work with colleagues, patients and patients' families, said Dr. Julie Freischlag, CEO of Wake Forest Baptist Health, dean of the School of Medicine and chief academic officer at Atrium.""

Wake Forest School of Medicine students start first rotations in Charlotte - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[KJHburg]

Timetable news for the WFU Atrium School of Medicine here in Charlotte:

""Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods gave more details on Tuesday about the system's proposed, four-year medical school. The plan is to break ground in the spring of 2022, barring unexpected circumstances. Leaders hope to finalize the school's design this winter, Woods said at a board meeting.  Atrium has submitted applications to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, both necessary approvals before opening the school. Students are scheduled to start in 2024.""

Atrium Health shares medical school construction timeline - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

 

[t_money]

Quote

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

This name kills me

[KJHburg]

Good background story about the WFU Atrium med school and how we got here from the Charlotte Magazine. 

How a New Medical School Aims to Change Charlotte - Charlotte Magazine

[KJHburg]

Interesting competition is a good thing and why was this not really done before or was it?  But Charlotte will have a 4 year med school with Atrium Wake Forest and this 2 year school with UNC and Novant.   Lets get ready to rumble with Med students! 

Novant Health, UNC receive go-ahead for two-year medical school here - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

""A top accreditor has given Novant Health the go-ahead for a UNC School of Medicine campus at Presbyterian Medical Center.  The Liaison Committee on Medical Education recently ruled that Novant has the appropriate resources to move forward. This would be the UNC School of Medicine's third branch campus, in addition to Asheville and Wilmington. It would serve third- and fourth-year students, with a focus on health-equity issues. Training is scheduled to start in February 2022. LCME will conduct a site visit in 2023.  The campus will start with nine students, five women and four men, with two having been born at Presbyterian, said Mark Higdon, vice president of Novant’s residency program and director of the Charlotte campus. There will be dozens of faculty and staff running operations, he said. It has the capacity for up to 30 students per class over the next few years.  Higdon said Novant is upfitting a former clinic space for students in Presbyterian Medical Tower, which connects to the medical center via skybridge. Students will gain access to comprehensive learning across multiple divisions, such as inpatient care, surgery, emergency, OB/GYN and primary care, to name a few.""

""Charlotte-based Atrium Health is phasing out its own partnership with UNC School of Medicine. The two opened a Charlotte campus in 2010 to train third- and fourth-year students. Atrium and UNC were in talks in 2017 for a larger combination, but plans fell through the next year. Current students will be able to finish their training. In March, Atrium began welcoming students from Wake Forest School of Medicine for rotations. It was a noticeable step forward in Atrium's and Wake Forest's plans to bring Charlotte its first four-year medical school. They announced a strategic combination more than two years ago. It became official last October. The medical school, Wake Forest's second campus, will be in midtown near Carolinas Medical Center. It is expected to support thousands of students in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.""

[Hushpuppy321]

I've been surprised that there's not a separate thread for The Hospital Wars?  Atrium & Novant have been going at it for many years now.  Aggressively expanding their Campuses, Building new Stand-alone ER Departments all over the Metro, wrestling for Hospital Bed Allocations from the State, etc.  Maybe it's not as compelling to some.

Anyway - Does anyone believe that this new 4 Year Medical School planned for Charlotte have the potential to rival UNC or Duke medical schools in the coming Decade(s)?

Edited July 13, 2021 by Hushpuppy321

[kermit]

5 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Anyway - Does anyone believe that this new 4 Year Medical School planned for Charlotte have the potential to rival UNC or Duke medical schools in the coming Decade(s)?

WFU has not provided many details on the size / structure and staffing of the new campus but they have hinted that enrollment will be quite large (but the specifics are blurred since Wake has reported total student numbers in Charlotte which include their other professional programs). And they have also indicated they plan to invest a ton of cash into the campus. If the Charlotte campus ends up as roughly the same size as their Winston medical campus then it is likely to become the rough equal of UNC and (in some specialties) duke.

Wake did have a world renowned specialization in regenerative medicine a few years ago, I suspect some key folks were hired away and the program has diminished, but I am not sure.

The wildcard for the Wake campus is how they will staff it. They could take a teaching-oriented path (which would be cheaper), or they can pursue some research stars (much more expensive) who won’t do much in the classroom, but would spend their time bringing in truckloads of NIH grant money (and hopefully creating local spinoff companies). My concern is that since the med school site is somewhat constrained, Wake won’t build enough research lab space in Charlotte to allow them to recruit these folks. In addition, we lack the infrastructure necessary to support university spinnoff companies, particularly in medical fields. The WF Innovation Quarter was very good at that (and the Triangle is even better). Even aside from the attorneys, contract testing orgs and VCs necessary to get med firms off the ground, office / lab space around this new campus is gonna be $$$ so I fear it will be tough for startups to get much traction in Charlotte. Cheaper lab/office space around Northend/NoDa may be too far away from campus to allow faculty to easily move between sites, so I do imagine some promising startups from the med school moving to Winston or Durham just because it will be easier.

I do think that a big investment by Wake in seeding a medical research community (and the associated firms) could potentially be the biggest thing for the Charlotte economy since the Federal government grudgingly allowed interstate banking to return in the mid 1980s. But this will require Wake laying out a ton of cash up front.

Edited July 13, 2021 by kermit

[CLT>]

6 hours ago, kermit said:

WFU has not provided many details on the size / structure and staffing of the new campus but they have hinted that enrollment will be quite large (but the specifics are blurred since Wake has reported total student numbers in Charlotte which include their other professional programs). And they have also indicated they plan to invest a ton of cash into the campus. If the Charlotte campus ends up as roughly the same size as their Winston medical campus then it is likely to become the rough equal of UNC and (in some specialties) duke.

Wake did have a world renowned specialization in regenerative medicine a few years ago, I suspect some key folks were hired away and the program has diminished, but I am not sure.

The wildcard for the Wake campus is how they will staff it. They could take a teaching-oriented path (which would be cheaper), or they can pursue some research stars (much more expensive) who won’t do much in the classroom, but would spend their time bringing in truckloads of NIH grant money (and hopefully creating local spinoff companies). My concern is that since the med school site is somewhat constrained, Wake won’t build enough research lab space in Charlotte to allow them to recruit these folks. In addition, we lack the infrastructure necessary to support university spinnoff companies, particularly in medical fields. The WF Innovation Quarter was very good at that (and the Triangle is even better). Even aside from the attorneys, contract testing orgs and VCs necessary to get med firms off the ground, office / lab space around this new campus is gonna be $$$ so I fear it will be tough for startups to get much traction in Charlotte. Cheaper lab/office space around Northend/NoDa may be too far away from campus to allow faculty to easily move between sites, so I do imagine some promising startups from the med school moving to Winston or Durham just because it will be easier.

I do think that a big investment by Wake in seeding a medical research community (and the associated firms) could potentially be the biggest thing for the Charlotte economy since the Federal government grudgingly allowed interstate banking to return in the mid 1980s. But this will require Wake laying out a ton of cash up front.

Don't sleep on Atrium putting in considerable cash as well. A lot of their donors are very deep pocketed, and loyal. They are also beginning outreach for a capital campaign for the Med School, and some of that will be for endowed chairs and research money which will draw in sought after faculty. They did an incredible job with the Levine Cancer Institute (the ecosystem, not the buildings) in recruiting people from all over the world.

[QCxpat]

Today's CBJ:  "Atrium Health, Wake Forest hit milestone for Charlotte medical school with accreditor approval" by Caroline Hudson

"Charlotte is another step closer in getting a four-year medical school.  Atrium Health and the Wake Forest School of Medicine have been approved to open a site for third- and fourth-year students.  The Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, both accrediting entities, gave the go-ahead at their June meetings,  Atrium said on Wednesday.  The two-year site will open to students in March 2022."  "The curriculum will be similar to that at the flagship campus in Winston-Salem, said Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, CEO of Wake Forest Baptist Health,  dean of the School of Medicine and chief academic officer of Atrium.  She said the team will be looking for different teaching methods, such as holograms and plasticized cadavers, with potential to teach virtual courses between the campuses."  " Crews plan to break ground on the medical school in the first quarter of 2022, assuming zoning approval.  It will be built on a 20-acre property, at the intersection of Baxter and South McDowell streets in midtown, close to Carolinas Medical Center.   Forty-eight students are scheduled to start in 2024 as the first full class.   Wake Forest plans to grow that number to 100 over the next three to five years, Dr. Freischlag said."  "The next step is gaining approval for the four-year school in Charlotte.  Atrium and Wake Forest will submit the application in late 2022."

Link:  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/07/14/atrium-wake-forest-med-school-approved-accreditor.html

Edited July 14, 2021 by QCxpat

[KJHburg]

this is the first time I have heard the sizes of the buildings for the med school.

""Construction is set to start on the campus in 2022, with the School of Medicine building in operation a couple of years later. That education building, which Miller described as a beacon, is the first priority. He said the team is still homing in on main research topics for the site.  The proposed 300,000-square-foot School of Medicine is expected to be about 270 feet high, or 18 stories. The 250,000-square-foot research building is expected to be 150 feet high, or 10 stories, according to city documents.  Miller said in June the medical school building, research building and parking deck will exceed $300 million. At full build-out, the site could take about eight to 10 years.""

""On Tuesday morning, Charlotte-based Atrium hosted a community discussion with Wexford Science & Technology, the Baltimore real estate firm developing the innovation district. Statewide, Wexford already has similar projects in downtown Durham and with Winston-Salem's Wake Forest innovation quarter.""

Atrium Health, developer plan innovation district at med school site - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[Hushpuppy321]

12 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

this is the first time I have heard the sizes of the buildings for the med school.

""Construction is set to start on the campus in 2022, with the School of Medicine building in operation a couple of years later. That education building, which Miller described as a beacon, is the first priority. He said the team is still homing in on main research topics for the site.  The proposed 300,000-square-foot School of Medicine is expected to be about 270 feet high, or 18 stories. The 250,000-square-foot research building is expected to be 150 feet high, or 10 stories, according to city documents.  Miller said in June the medical school building, research building and parking deck will exceed $300 million. At full build-out, the site could take about eight to 10 years.""

""On Tuesday morning, Charlotte-based Atrium hosted a community discussion with Wexford Science & Technology, the Baltimore real estate firm developing the innovation district. Statewide, Wexford already has similar projects in downtown Durham and with Winston-Salem's Wake Forest innovation quarter.""

Atrium Health, developer plan innovation district at med school site - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

Hmmm - the main building would be about the same height as LU2/Deloitte Tower

[Blue_Devil]

12 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Hmmm - the main building would be about the same height as LU2/Deloitte Tower

I am curious about the Innovation District. Duke University and Duke Health, for example, have well over 2 million sqft of medical research space on campus and another 2 million off... That is just medical research. 

Given this is a Atrium flag ship, but at the same time axillary campus to Wake Forest Med School, I don't think we will see as much medical research as if we were right on campus, but we could still potential see a million sqft of lab space built over the next 10 years in addition to the Med School. Plus, it is not unreasonable to think we get more hotels, corporate hubs, apartments, etc in conjunction with this. 

I also think we will see an expansion of Wake Forests professional school programs. A new Law School (which Charlotte is missing), Business School, and maybe some medical engineering programs. We also might see Academic Medical wings of the hospital built out around here. Stuff that is more bleeding edge. 

Just looking at the trajectories of big Academic Research Hospitals, the possibilities are huge. The whole reason Downtown Durham has stayed relevant is largely due to Duke's investment into Lab space in the area. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Blue_Devil

[Hushpuppy321]

I wonder how the Medical School will play into / affect Atrium Capital Improvement & Expansion at their main campus.  Anyone remember that new Patient Tower (12 Story) that is/was supposed to be built?

[Blue_Devil]

21 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

I wonder how the Medical School will play into / affect Atrium Capital Improvement & Expansion at their main campus.  Anyone remember that new Patient Tower (12 Story) that is/was supposed to be built?

I think its scheduled for Ground breaking in 2023. 

[CLT>]

On 8/25/2021 at 7:18 PM, Hushpuppy321 said:

I wonder how the Medical School will play into / affect Atrium Capital Improvement & Expansion at their main campus.  Anyone remember that new Patient Tower (12 Story) that is/was supposed to be built?

On 8/25/2021 at 7:40 PM, Blue_Devil said:

I think its scheduled for Ground breaking in 2023. 

 

They topped out this month  for the new Rehabilitation Hospital which will be directly adjacent to the new patient tower (you can see it  to the right in the rendering)

[SydneyCarton]

Charlotte hospital system details Innovation District plans | Charlotte Observer

[Hushpuppy321]

Do you guys think that the $75 Million ask of Charlotte & Mecklenburg is a fair investment for this new Innovation District & Medical School?  Also - Anyone able to see past the Charlotte Observer Paywall to get details?

[Blue_Devil]

44 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Do you guys think that the $75 Million ask of Charlotte & Mecklenburg is a fair investment for this new Innovation District & Medical School?  Also - Anyone able to see past the Charlotte Observer Paywall to get details?

Open it in a Incognito window in Chrome. Also, I do think it is a fair investment, given the gigantic impact this project will have. 1000s of jobs, 1000s of new students in the area, a whole new sector of companies investing in the region. 

[KJHburg]

from the article

""Most of the $75 million would go toward infrastructure, including new streets, street improvements, utility relocation and parking.  The project involves building more than 1.5 million square feet of space, Zeiler said.  “It is significant,” he added. “And it’s going to bring significant new tax revenue.”  The county’s contribution could total $50 million as a tax increment grant over 20 years, Zeiler told commissioners.  Several commissioners said they were excited about the plans.""

Yes I think this is a wise investment it is similar to what is used with new companies coming to down.  Paid for over 20 years as the values of the properties increase which of course they will.   This will create so many spin off jobs that this area has been missing if you need an example close by go to Winston or better yet go to RTP and Durham.  

[kermit]

3 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Do you guys think that the $75 Million ask of Charlotte & Mecklenburg is a fair investment for this new Innovation District & Medical School?  Also - Anyone able to see past the Charlotte Observer Paywall to get details?

There is no better investment that the city could make

[t_money]

My (maybe not so) hot take is that the  silver line should be re-routed to follow 277 in the southern direction to pass close to this and other development along Morehead.

[KJHburg]

This project is going to be transformative as we all know .   From the Ledger today:

""Charlotte is in the running to land the North American headquarters of an international surgical company called Ircad, which would bring surgeons to the city for advanced training, Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods said on Monday.  “If you’re a surgeon anywhere in the world, you know Ircad,” Woods said. “It’s the company that trains you in the latest new technologies, [artificial intelligence], new devices.”  He said Charlotte and Atrium are in “intense competition” with “some major health systems across the country” and that he had made a presentation to Ircad, which is based in France, about Charlotte. He didn’t say how many jobs or how much investment the headquarters would bring.  Woods’ disclosure came in remarks he was making to the City Council on Monday, updating council members on the status of Atrium’s planned medical school campus between Morehead Street and I-277 in the Dilworth/Midtown area. The development would require about $75M in city funding for infrastructure including new roads, intersection improvements and added storm drains and water lines. Cities typically help pay for infrastructure of major developments.""

IRCAD Laparoscopic Training Center

one more comment that city council meeting from Mr Winston  :"" But council member Braxton Winston said he worries that medical campuses can be “very disruptive to communities,” and that Atrium’s plan could “further hasten displacement of folks in the Cherry neighborhood,” which is a mile away.""

[Blue_Devil]

24 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This project is going to be transformative as we all know .   From the Ledger today:

""Charlotte is in the running to land the North American headquarters of an international surgical company called Ircad, which would bring surgeons to the city for advanced training, Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods said on Monday.  “If you’re a surgeon anywhere in the world, you know Ircad,” Woods said. “It’s the company that trains you in the latest new technologies, [artificial intelligence], new devices.”  He said Charlotte and Atrium are in “intense competition” with “some major health systems across the country” and that he had made a presentation to Ircad, which is based in France, about Charlotte. He didn’t say how many jobs or how much investment the headquarters would bring.  Woods’ disclosure came in remarks he was making to the City Council on Monday, updating council members on the status of Atrium’s planned medical school campus between Morehead Street and I-277 in the Dilworth/Midtown area. The development would require about $75M in city funding for infrastructure including new roads, intersection improvements and added storm drains and water lines. Cities typically help pay for infrastructure of major developments.""

IRCAD Laparoscopic Training Center

one more comment that city council meeting from Mr Winston  :"" But council member Braxton Winston said he worries that medical campuses can be “very disruptive to communities,” and that Atrium’s plan could “further hasten displacement of folks in the Cherry neighborhood,” which is a mile away.""

Braxton probably thinks the new Med School tower should have affordable housing units built into it...