State, local leaders celebrate ACOM grand opening

Local and state leaders celebrated the grand opening of Alabama's third medical school, the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, July 29.

The 110,000 square-foot facility and 60 faculty and staff members will welcome its first 162 students, out of 2,700 applicants, this fall.

More than half of the inaugural class is from the Southeastern United States with 11 from the Wiregrass and four from Dothan.

The college, proposed by the Houston County Health Care Authority, was developed to address what they say is a critical shortage of primary care physicians.

"We are all striving to increase the number of physician working in Alabama to meet our health care needs," said ACOM President Ronald Owen.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, a former doctor himself, attended the grand opening saying, "This is one of the finest facilities I believe I've ever seen."

Bentley recognized the cooperative effort it took from a number of different individuals and groups to make the college a reality for the Wiregrass.

"To see the culmination of this, and for me to have the privilege to be the governor when we have a new medical school in this state – I am so excited," Bentley said.

Bentley also thanked the Wiregrass, the HCMA and Southeast Alabama Medical Center for having the courage to build the school.

"This is going to be a tremendous benefit for the people of Alabama, especially the people in southeast Alabama and parts of Georgia and Florida, but particularly in Alabama," Bentley said.

An economic study revealed the college is expected to bring nearly 2,000 jobs to Alabama and have an estimated $300 million impact on the state by 2030.

"A lot of people thought we couldn't do this ... We have the people that knew we could do it, and after administering a heavy dose of faith and determination and working on a college that many times seemed only a dream ... it was just a picture on a high definition screen," ACOM Dean Craig Lentz said. "We're here and that vision has become a reality."

Congresswoman Martha Roby called the college's opening a day that "We've all been waiting for."

"I really believe the faculty and leadership that you have assembled here today will be the difference maker in the success of the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine," Roby said. "It's an exciting day for Dothan and the Wiregrass and the state of Alabama."

Roby wished the incoming students the best of luck in their journey to become a doctor.

Classes will begin at the college on Aug. 5 and students will graduate in the spring of 2017.

Student Kenyanita Ellis said she is proud to be among the first students to attend the school.

"Everything about ACOM just felt right, from the facility to the city all the way to the faculty," Ellis said. "It means the world to me that the faculty at ACOM selected me to be a part of this groundbreaking class because it lets me know that they have faith in me and believe I have the makings to be a great physician."

The ceremony concluded with Owens and Lentz unveiling a plaque to be placed on the outside of the building dedicating its opening.

Hundreds of guests spent the afternoon touring the new facility that will produce the future's physicians not only in the Wiregrass, but the country as well.