PHOTO | ATRIUM HEALTH

Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods speaks Tuesday during the groundbreaking ceremony of The Pearl, Charlotte's first medical school and innovation district in the former Brooklyn community.

The first shovels of dirt were turned Tuesday to commemorate construction of The Pearl, Charlotte’s first medical school and surrounding innovation district.

Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte and The Pearl, which will be built at the intersection of Baxter and South McDowell streets near Uptown, will reshape health care and economic mobility in the city. Charlotte is the nation’s largest city without a four-year medical school.

“Not only will The Pearl serve as a major engine of economic opportunity, but it will also house game-changing academic programs for learners of all degree levels and set the stage for innovative health science businesses to grow into the core companies of Charlotte’s future,” said Gene Woods, CEO of Atrium Health and Charlotte-based Advocate Health, the fifth-largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. that Atrium has merged with. “We are creating a ‘city within a city,’ where excellence lives, and excellence is learned. And as we begin this new chapter on these storied grounds, we are deeply committed to partnering with the communities around it and honoring its rich history.”

Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte is expected to seat its first class in 2024 and open the following year.

“Today is an incredibly exciting day for Wake Forest,” Wake Forest University President Susan Wente said. “The addition of a second Wake Forest University School of Medicine campus will increase our capacity to educate the next generation of physicians and health care professionals to address pressing health care needs in our communities. With novel, cutting-edge programs from our School of Professional Studies, as well as the School of Business MBA programs based in Charlotte, we will be positioned to create further connections and enhance access to Wake Forest’s exceptional professional education for students in the region.”  

The school of medicine will anchor the Howard R. Levine Center for Education in the heart of The Pearl. Howard R. Levine Foundation provided a $25 million gift to name The Pearl’s signature building.

“I am honored to be a partner in Atrium Health’s endeavor to bring innovation to the Center City and establish Wake Forest University School of Medicine Charlotte,” Levine said. ”Our family looks forward to the opportunities that will unfold for all who wish to pursue  higher education and positively impact the health of our community.”

The Pearl will be built in the former known Brooklyn community, a neighborhood where African Americans thrived. In the 1950s and 1960s when urban renewal came to the area, most of the Black families, businesses, and churches were displaced. One landmark that remains is Pearl Street Park, the city’s first for African Americans. It is the inspiration behind the campus’ name.

The Pearl is part of a public-private partnership between Atrium Health, Wexford Science and Technology, the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in addition to $1.5 billion in private investments to create an ecosystem of research and academics.

The Pearl will contain a 331,000-square-foot research building and feature STEM education, retail, apartments, a hotel, and open community spaces. The campus will incubate new ideas, jobs, and businesses — particularly minority-owned businesses in a geographic area that will bring people together and have economic impact.

“We recognize the positive impacts this project will have on the economy of our city and our region, creating jobs and opportunities for thousands of people,” Mayor Vi Lyles said.  “I am so proud that our city, our county, and our community is investing in the future in this manner, creating the crown jewel of the Queen City.”

Over the next 15 years, The Pearl and its tenants are projected to create more than 5,500 onsite jobs and more than 11,500 jobs in the Charlotte community.

“Today marks one of the most exciting times in our counties’ history, as we will soon see all the benefits of having a four-year medical school and a new innovation district focused on the life sciences serving this community,” said Mecklenburg County Commissioner George Dunlap. “It will also create a pipeline for more bright and talented medical professionals who may choose to live, work and raise their families here.”

Aaliyah Bowden, who covers health at The Post, is a Report For America corps member.

 

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