WSU regents approve Riverpoint medical expansion

Washington State University regents on Friday approved the creation of a new College of Medical Sciences on the university’s Spokane campus, adding to its rapidly growing health sciences programs.

The College of Medical Sciences creates a trio of colleges at Riverpoint, strengthening the university’s commitment to train medical professionals and bolstering WSU’s desire to establish an independent medical school in Spokane, said Ken Roberts, WSU Medical Sciences director.

Said WSU President Elson Floyd: This is “the next logical step in solidifying that campus’s role as a center of health sciences education.”

The new college merges WSU’s growing clusters in sleep and cancer research with the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) medical education program that WSU shares with the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane and Pullman, said the college’s spokesman, Doug Nadvornick.

Additionally, the college provides an academic home for medical sciences faculty already at WSU Spokane as well as those in the WSU Speech and Hearing Sciences, Floyd said.