Senators tour medical college construction site
Published: November 3, 2009
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Michael J. Mullen / Staff Photographer Dr. Robert D'Alessandri, right, president of the Commonwealth Medical College, speaks with U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter, left, and Bob Casey at the school's construction site on Pine Street in Scranton during a visit for officials and media on Monday.
Under the steel beams, working welders and moving cranes, Pennsylvania politicians stood staring up at progress Monday morning.
U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter, who were joined by U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, donned white hard hats, walked across muddy ground and saw the future of the state's newest medical school.
"Now it feels real," said Mr. Carney, D-10, Dimock Twp.
Although the Commonwealth Medical College's first class of 65 doctor of medicine students arrived in August, the most concrete presence of the school may be the construction of the Medical Sciences Building on Pine Street in Scranton.
The 185,000-square-foot, $120 million structure is now 20 percent complete and as much as 5 percent under budget, said Robert D'Alessandri, M.D., the school's dean and president.
When the building opens in 2011, the school will be able to accommodate up to 600 students in doctor of medicine, master of biomedical sciences and planned doctorate in research programs.
During Monday's tour, Dr. D'Alessandri spoke about the importance of the school, which he said has a larger percentage of students from Pennsylvania than any other state medical college.
In Northeast Pennsylvania, more than $1 billion leaves the area each year because of a shortage of physicians and specialists, Dr. D'Alessandri said, adding that he thinks the students will change that.
"Eventually, the hope is for them to stay in the region," Dr. D'Alessandri said.
Mr. Specter said there is a "desperate need" for the school and is optimistic about its future.
Standing in what will be the lobby of the school, Dr. D'Alessandri highlighted a few of the school's features.
Construction crews are now working on closing the walls on the west wing of the building, which will house laboratories and a patient simulation center.
The building's landscaping will include 16 trees - one from each county in Northeast and North-Central Pennsylvania. A tree believed to be a descendant of the tree Hippocrates taught under 2,400 years ago, which is now being grown locally, will also be planted outside.
All building materials come from within 500 miles of Scranton, including the Pennsylvania bluestone that will be used on the outside of the building.
Officials are hoping for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
"This is a remarkable testament to the future of the region," Mr. Casey said.
Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com
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