A rendering of the Drexel College of Medicine branch campus that will be built in West Reading through an agreement with Tower Health.

Tower Health has selected a location for construction of a 200,000-square-foot building for a four-year regional campus of Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health. A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Tower Health with Equus Capital Partners, Ltd. to build the new campus on Parcel 9 of The Knitting Mills redevelopment, which was formally known as The VF Outlets. The site, which is 0.6 miles from Reading Hospital, and selected in part for its proximity to the hospital, will be operational for the 2021-22 academic year.

For the first year, education, classroom and lab instruction will take place temporarily in Reading Hospital's School of Health Sciences. As the project moves forward, Tower Health and Drexel officials anticipate the first group of approximately 40 medical students will arrive at Reading Hospital for the 2020-21 academic year. When fully operational, the campus will educate 200 students.

"This is an exciting step in Tower Health's evolution of our academic mission," said Clint Matthews, Tower Health's president and CEO. "Our affiliation with Drexel, one of the finest medical schools in the country, will help us address projected physician shortages in our region, bring improved access and services to our patients, and provide significant economic benefit to the entire Reading area."

"The new campus in Reading is cause for excitement, as it opens up new training opportunities for Drexel College of Medicine students and enhances Tower Health's impact throughout the region," said Drexel President John Fry. 

Tower Health intends to begin the zoning approval process for the new school building in the near future.