COLUMBUS, OH.- One-hundred and fifteen medical students will join the Arkansas State University Jonesboro campus, Jonesboro, Arkansas, this fall when the new school of osteopathic medicine opens for its first class.

Planned and designed by DesignGroup, a Columbus-based architectural design firm specializing in education, healthcare, library and other civic buildings, the school had a groundbreaking in June. The school is housed in Wilson Hall, the oldest building on the A-State campus and a centerpiece on the historic quad.

“Located in the heart of the campus, Wilson Hall couldn’t be a more appropriate location for the new school of medicine to showcase its importance and meaning to the communities of Arkansas,” said Elliott Bonnie, AIA, who led the project at DesignGroup.

The 86,000-square-foot hall required a major renovation to incorporate an osteopathic manipulative medicine lab, gross anatomy lab, simulated operating room and emergency room skills lab among other classrooms. Since distance learning will be an important part of the curriculum, what once was a library is now a multimedia classroom that accommodates 132 students. The auditorium has also been transformed into a high-tech classroom, but historic elements of it have been incorporated into the design that is sensitive to the original Art Deco style of the building. Four of the auditorium’s original lights that had been removed – but saved – during an earlier renovation have been added to a stairwell.

Other elements saved from the 1930’s era building include the marble walls of the front lobby, decorative stamped metal panels under the windows and a stone carving of “the scholar” over the original library entrance.

The school is an additional instructional site of New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM).

“This is an extraordinary development for the future of not only our institutions, but more importantly for the citizens of Arkansas and the Delta,” said A-State Chancellor Dr. Tim Hudson. “We’re grateful to NYIT for seeking to expand its proven, highly regarded osteopathic curriculum for the benefit of students in this region. We appreciate the excellent work of DesignGroup.”

The new school will provide space for 115 new medical students each year in Arkansas, which is struggling with a physician shortage. The state consistently ranks in the bottom quartile in national healthcare studies. It ranks 49th in overall population health and 48th in percentage of active physicians per 100,000 people.

“The renovated Wilson Hall will serve the medical school and the A-State and Jonesboro community well for years to come,” said NYIT President Edward Guiliano, Ph.D. “The residents of the region will enjoy improved health services as well as business development for the state of Arkansas and for the two universities.”

AMR Architects out of Little Rock, Arkansas, was the local architect.