OREM, Utah, Nov. 16, 2021 — The Utah Valley University (UVU) Woodbury School of Business has finalized a partnership with the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) to offer a healthcare administration concentration of study as part of its Master of Business Administration program.

This new partnership offers a combined degree of Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and MBA between the two institutions, providing Noorda-COM medical students an advantage in the market of healthcare during an exceptional time of growth and change in the industry.

“The partnership between UVU’s Woodbury School of Business and the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine marries two highly innovative institutions of higher education to the benefit of students and the local health care industry,” said Norman Wright, dean of the Woodbury School of Business. “Students armed with this credential will make an important difference in the practice of medicine at a time when the market dynamics of the industry are undergoing significant change.”

According to John Dougherty, Noorda-COM founding dean and chief academic officer, Noorda-COM students can start the DO/MBA program after their first semester of medical school and ultimately graduate with both their medical and MBA degrees.

“This dual degree program is a significant offering that will greatly enhance our students’ professional abilities,” Dougherty said. “Not only will they be well educated in how to provide medical services, they will also learn the important aspects of navigating the business of medicine regardless of whether they are in private practice or an established healthcare system.”

This new concentration of study offered by the UVU MBA program is available to students enrolled in Noorda-COM’s osteopathic medicine degree program who meet academic and professional requirements.

“Understanding the value and importance of business acumen through the DO/MBA program with UVU is a wonderful complement to Noorda-COM’s innovative progressive curricular offerings,” Dougherty said. “Our goal is to empower students with essential personal and professional skills to meet the healthcare challenges within the communities they serve.”

About Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine

Located in Provo, Utah, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) offers an innovative and unique medical education approach. Noorda-COM provides 21st-century medical students a curricular model blending active, small group learning with advanced laboratory experiences and research opportunities while also emphasizing school and life balance with a commitment to health and wellness. Noorda-COM focuses on preparing future residency-ready physicians committed to providing patient-centered healthcare. Noorda-COM is a private, proprietary institution. An independent governing Board of Trustees oversees Noorda-COM. The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation granted Noorda-COM Pre-Accreditation status in December 2020. For more information, visit noordacom.org.

About the Woodbury School of Business

The Woodbury School of Business (WSB) is the largest business school in the Utah System of Higher Education and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The WSB supports a variety of engaged-learning projects and programs. The school is distinguished for its focus on student development, entrepreneurship, global involvement, and innovative teaching. In addition to traditional undergraduate courses of study in disciplines ranging from accounting to marketing, the WSB offers an MBA program that includes various fields of study, including management, technology management, finance, marketing, and healthcare administration. Visit the WSB homepage for more information.

About Utah Valley University 
At Utah Valley University, we believe everyone deserves the transforming benefits of high-quality education — and it needs to be affordable, accessible, and flexible. With opportunities to earn certificates to master’s degrees, our students succeed by gaining real-world experience and developing career-ready skills. As we celebrate the milestone of our 80th anniversary in 2021, we continue to invite people to come as they are — and leave ready and prepared to make a difference in the world. For more, visit uvu.edu or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Cory Maloy
Maloy PR, for Noorda-COM
801-319-7900
cory@maloypr.com

PROVO, Utah, July 1, 2021 – The Board of Trustees (Board) of the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) today announced it has started a national search for a new permanent president and appointed Dr. Norman S. Wright, Ph.D. as interim president during the search.

Dr. Wright has been a member of the Noorda-COM Board of Trustees for the past two years.  He currently serves as Dean of the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University, a position he has held for the past 11 years. His extensive career in higher education began in 1995, and he has held numerous administrative leadership positions.

The Board anticipates that a new president may be appointed by this fall.

Dr. Richard P. Nielsen, president of Noorda-COM for the past two years, retired from his position at the institution effective June 30, 2021, following the achievement of critical objectives in starting the school in Provo.

The inaugural class of 90 Noorda-COM students begins this summer.

“The Board wishes to thank Dr. Nielsen for his vision and hard work to start a medical school in Utah County,” said Francis Gibson, chair, Noorda-COM Board of Trustees. “We appreciate his long-term service to Noorda-COM, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, his community, and communities throughout the world. Thousands of people in part owe their medical and health care to the work Dr. Nielsen has done and continues to do.”

Working with many leaders and stakeholders, Dr. Nielsen played an essential role in achieving a more than 10-year vision of bringing a medical school to Provo. His work included many crucial aspects in the development of the medical school, including:

• Successfully navigating the acquisition of the property for the new medical school from Provo City.
• Recruiting and appointing a world-renowned Dean and Chief Academic Officer.
• Helping meet all requirements to achieve each step leading to pre-accreditation status.
• Leading the team that secured significant funding for the development of the medical school.
• Welcoming the first 90 students comprising the inaugural class that will begin in the summer of 2021.

About Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine

Located in Provo, Utah, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) offers an innovative and unique medical education approach. Noorda-COM provides 21st-century medical students a curricular model blending active, small group learning with advanced laboratory experiences and research opportunities while also emphasizing school and life balance with a commitment to health and wellness. Noorda-COM focuses on preparing future residency-ready physicians committed to providing patient-centered healthcare. Noorda-COM is a private, proprietary institution. An independent governing Board of Trustees oversees Noorda-COM. The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation granted Noorda-COM Pre-Accreditation status in December 2020. https://noordacom.org

A. Cory Maloy
Maloy PR
801-877-3112
cory@maloypr.com

Underwritten by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., bond to fund facility expansion and operations.

PROVO, Utah, Apr. 21, 2021 – Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) announced today the issuance of $47,965,000 of Taxable Educational Facilities Revenue Bonds (Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine Project) Series 2021A and $87,940,000 of Taxable Educational Facilities Revenue Bonds (Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine Project) Series 2021B (together, the “Bonds”), both of which have been issued by the Public Finance Authority, as a conduit issuer, and underwritten by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (“Oppenheimer”).  The Bonds provide capital to expand capacity beyond the college’s current educational facilities, including the development and construction of a new medical school academic building, and to fund ongoing operations of the college.

Noorda-COM worked with Oppenheimer, as the underwriter, to secure the funding provided by the Bonds. Construction of the new facility is currently underway, with an estimated completion time for the summer or fall of 2022. It will provide expanded resources for the school’s roster of medical students and its faculty and staff. The facility will be located in Provo’s growing health, science, and technology district, next to the Timpanogos Golf Club golf course.

The inaugural class of 90 students will begin classes in August 2021 in Noorda-COM’s campus facilities located in the Timpanogos Tech Center. Construction of the academic center will continue during the academic year until completed.  

“In a year of milestones, this funding is significant,” said Dr. Richard P. Nielsen, founding president and CEO of Noorda-COM. “For the past decade, we have worked diligently to bring forth the vision of a new medical school to serve medical students, and the people of Utah and the Intermountain West. During an unusual year caused by a global pandemic, Noorda-COM not only reached key milestones, but will open its doors to its inaugural class this summer. This bond funding will allow Noorda-COM to become a foundational institution of medical education as we raise the bar in medical education and training for decades to come.”

In addition to closing this funding, Noorda-COM reached several other milestones over the past several months including closing on a $42.8 million Public Infrastructure District bond led by D.A. Davidson, receiving approval for Pre-Accreditation status by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, hiring of dozens of professional faculty and staff, and forming local affiliation partners for core clinical education.

These achievements led to a significant milestone in student recruitment with Noorda-COM receiving more than 2,000 diverse medical student applications and admitting nearly all of its 90 students for the inaugural class. The students come from various locations and backgrounds including about 23 percent from under-represented minorities, nearly 50 percent women, and roughly 50 percent from Utah.

“This funding will provide Noorda-COM with greater opportunities to fulfill our mission in creating a transformational medical education model,” said Dr. John Dougherty, Noorda-COM founding dean and chief academic officer. “Noorda-COM students will obtain the highest quality medical education within a campus environment ideal for our unique student centric curricular model integrating technology and directed personal guidance.”

The expanded facility will include a beautiful campus layout comprising a 140,000 square-foot, four-story building housing academic offices, learning space, and industry-leading simulation space.

“This is a momentous project that will help fulfill the mission of Noorda-COM,” said Greg Stuart, a Noorda-COM trustee, and the developer for the project. “Development included working closely with Provo City to acquire the land where the new facility will be located. We’re pleased with the partnership we’ve established with the City to bring Noorda-COM and these facilities to the community for the benefit of all.”

John Nemelka, a member of the Noorda-COM Board of Trustee, and the economic specialist for the Noorda-COM project, said, “We worked very closely with Oppenheimer during the offering, and we are extremely pleased with their focus, dedication, and skill in structuring and closing this successful offering. This financing lays the groundwork for an incredible project that will help create solutions to the physician shortages in Utah and throughout the country.”

MHTN Architects is the architectural and design firm for the new academic building, and the general contractor is Westland Construction.

About Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine

Located in Provo, Utah, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) offers an innovative and unique medical education approach. Noorda-COM provides 21st-century medical students a curricular model blending active, small group learning with advanced laboratory experiences and research opportunities while also emphasizing school and life balance with a commitment to health and wellness. Noorda-COM focuses on preparing future residency-ready physicians committed to providing patient-centered healthcare. Noorda-COM is a private, proprietary institution. An independent governing Board of Trustees oversees Noorda-COM. The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation granted Noorda-COM Pre-Accreditation status in December 2020. https://noordacom.org

Contact:
A. Cory Maloy
Maloy PR
801-877-3112
cory@maloypr.com

PROVO, Utah, Oct. 27, 2020 – The proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Noorda-COM) today announced the appointment of Schyler Richards as Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

In her role, Richards will provide counsel on the College’s outreach to external audiences, fundraising, alumni relations, marketing, communications, advertising, media, government relations, and community relations.

“We couldn’t be more impressed with the level of experience and leadership Schyler brings to the proposed Noorda-COM,” said Dr. Richard P. Nielsen, founding president and CEO of the proposed Noorda-COM. “Her expertise will be crucial during the next few years and beyond as we continue to build the curriculum, hire a complete faculty, build a prestigious research consortium, build a medical education and research campus, build the proposed medical school and invite our inaugural class of medical students in the fall of 2021.”

Richards served as Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Touro University in Nevada. She also served at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas holding numerous positions, including Associate Vice President for Alumni & External Relations, Associate Vice President for Community Relations, Chief of Staff to the University President, and Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship.

“I am grateful to become a member of the founding executive team at the proposed Noorda-COM,” said Richards. “Together, we will create a great institution to provide local students with the professional medical skills needed to serve the people of Utah, across the country, and around the globe. Our students will join medical students from other Utah medical schools in addressing the on-going shortage of physicians in Utah and across the country.”

The proposed Noorda-COM received Candidate Status in June of 2019 as part of the accreditation process from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA). It recently received the accreditation status of Rights to Recruit, allowing the proposed Noorda-COM to begin recruiting its inaugural class.

About the proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine

The proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine is an independent and freestanding institution overseen by a governing Board of Trustees located in Provo, Utah. Its Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program is designed to train outstanding future physicians. Its mission is to empower students with essential personal and professional skills to be competent, confident, and compassionate osteopathic physicians. The college has achieved Candidate with Rights to Recruit Status by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.

Contact:
A. Cory Maloy
Maloy PR
801-877-3112
cory@maloypr.com

In late August, Noorda-COM and Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions received $42.8 million to help create infrastructure for the new Medical Education and Research Campus (MERC).  The funding was the first in Utah since the Utah Legislature passed Senate Bill 228 to allow the formation of a Public Infrastructure District (PID) to finance new development and redevelopment projects across the state.

The funding will be used to start infrastructure projects on the expanded campus site such as roads, sewer, and electrical installation.   “The development of the MERC will have a profound and positive impact on Utah County and the entire state and region,” said Dr. Richard Nielsen.  “We are honored to be the first recipients of this funding in the State of Utah and believe it is a testament to our past success and our future promise to all Utahns.”

The bond issuance and the ability to begin infrastructure on the campus is important to recruiting students and faculty as well as in building awareness with the communities of Utah.  “The medical school’s goal is to attract the highest caliber students, including those local students who want to stay in Utah for their medical education,” said Dr. John Dougherty.

This funding represents a true collaborative effort which was led by Noorda-COM board member John Nemelka and which was orchestrated by D.A. Davidson & Company’s Special District Group and supported by Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, the city administration, and the Provo City Municipal Council.

The Noorda-COM campus continues to exercise caution and follow CDC guidelines for Healthcare Professionals as it relates to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.  As of September 19^th, due to the unprecedented spike in Coronavirus cases setting new records in Utah, Noorda-COM has issued a limited work from home order for all non-essential work.  This should allow for an overall decrease in the number of employees on campus and will help protect our faculty and staff while mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in our community.

As Noorda-COM continues to move forward with the admissions process, interviews with prospective students will be held via video as well in keeping with national standards.  The curriculum for students has also been updated to provide PPE training at the end of the first year, prior to their first shift as a medical scribe.  Noorda-COM has also updated the Student Handbook and Student Health Policies with COVID-19 specific criteria and the curricular model can be modified if necessary if the pandemic continues into next year.

To date, there has been only one reported COVID-19 case on campus, and that individual, although suffering complications which required hospitalization, followed all protocols and self-quarantined until approved to return to work.  We are grateful that individual is fully recovered and back at work.

Noorda-COM is pleased to announce it has affiliation agreements in place with most major healthcare systems in Utah as well as many other hospitals and major physician practice groups.

Affiliate partners include Intermountain Healthcare where students will rotate at Utah Valley Hospital, Orem Community Hospital, American Fork Hospital, the future Spanish Fork Hospital, Riverton Hospital, and the soon to be built Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi.  Other partners are Steward Health (Mountain Point Hospital and Jordan Valley Medical Center), Revere Health’s subspecialty clinics, Utah State Hospital, Provo Canyon Behavioral Hospital, Utah Valley Specialty Hospital, Premiere Family Medicine, Canyon View Medical Group, and Southwest Spine and Pain. Students interested in rural rotation opportunities can also rotate at Central Valley Medical Center in Nephi, Utah.

Noorda-COM students will be able to complete their core clinical rotations a facilities with a total of more than 1,100 – 1,200 beds all within a 30 to 40-minute drive from campus.  “Not only will our students be able to stay locally for their core 3^rd year rotations, they will be able to experience a variety of healthcare systems from an operational standpoint as well as outpatient and primary care facilities,” said Dr. Michael Rhodes, Associate Dean of Clinical Education.  “It goes beyond them seeing different medical systems, it exposes them to diversity in patients, approaches to healthcare, and ways of thinking.”