Jones Lang LaSalle

UMDNJ Plans $130M Med School Project
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: November 28, 2005 08:40am

CAMDEN, NJ-It’s still in the early discussion stages, but a plan is in the works for a new $130-million medical school located adjacent to Cooper University Hospital here. The board of trustees of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has started talking about the feasibility of such a project, according to officials of the university. One of the talking points is whether outside funding can be arranged to do the project, because it’s not currently in the institution’s budget, according to a spokesman for UMDNJ.

If it comes to fruition, it would be the fourth component of the UMDNJ, which is the country’s largest public university of its kind. Its existing schools include the New Jersey Medical School in Newark, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick and the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford.

The local project, according to the spokesman, is also being viewed as a major component in this city’s ongoing revitalization. And an internal feasibility report made public by Cooper University Hospital offered the conclusion that a med school project is key to its future growth and ability to compete. Cooper, which came close to bankruptcy several years ago, has since rebounded and is currently expanding.