Meharry Medical College will be broadening its reach to Memphis, TN.
The Historically Black College and University (HBCU), based in Nashville, TN, has long-term plans to expand to Memphis, TN, as CEO and President James Hildreth told Commercial Appeal.
Already, the school held a grand opening for a new medical training facility that will be located at the 23-acre mixed-use campus of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, launching its Office of Memphis Programs.
“I see this as a wonderful opportunity to turn the tide on and bring about better health care outcomes in the city of Memphis,” said Rev. Jason Turner of Mississippi Boulevard Church, according to the outlet.
The training facility will be timely as Meharry Medical College has often sent its students to hospitals in other states due to outstanding commitments local major hospitals already had to train students from other schools.
“One of the things that the branch campus in Memphis will do for us is to allow us to have two major training sites and not have to send our students to so many places,” Hildreth mentioned to the outlet.
The new facility will feature classrooms, faculty offices, and a student lounge. Its services will also help to address health challenges in the city such as HIV/AID, obesity, and diabetes.
“Memphis is a place where we can have a huge impact,” Hildreth explained, per the Commercial Appeal.
The facility will also maintain the same standard of education as Meharry Medical College in preparation for the creation of a future branch campus.
“The larger vision we have is…to establish connections to the community in terms of public health approaches to addressing the issues,” Hildreth mentioned, according to the outlet. “We’re going to do that through the students, but also again we intend to have a whole campus here, with medicine, dentistry, public health, all those things that we do up in Nashville.”
