Ohio U. medical school to build Columbus-area campus with $105 million donation
Ohio University
May 2, 2011
The Osteopathic Heritage Foundations’ $105 million award to Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine represents the largest private donation ever given to a college or university in Ohio. This gift will be used to address some of the most pressing health care issues across the state and the nation – the impending shortage of primary care physicians and the diabetes epidemic.
The transformational gift was jointly announced by the Ohio University
College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM) and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations in Columbus, Ohio, during the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium held at the Hilton Columbus Easton Town Center.
“We have never before considered a grant or an award of this magnitude,” said Richard A. Vincent, President and CEO of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. “Nor have we considered an award that has the potential impact that this one will have in both central and southeast Ohio. Given the urgent needs in health care, like an impending shortage of primary care physicians and a burgeoning epidemic of diabetes and related illnesses, the time was right and the choice of a recipient was clear.”
“We feel that Ohio University, and its College of Osteopathic Medicine, specifically, are in the best position to facilitate addressing these issues,” he said. “The money is going to Ohio University and its College of Osteopathic Medicine, but it’s going there because it is, we feel, the best position to facilitate the impact in the community with regard to service and education.”
In recognition of the award, the medical school will be renamed the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, pending approval by Ohio University’s Board of Trustees at its June meeting.
