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Charlotte preparing for 4-year medical school

City and county leaders toured the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem on Monday, with hopes of bringing something similar to Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Right now, Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. without its own four-year medical school. But that will soon change. 

Earlier this year, the Wake Forest School of Medicine announced its plans to create a campus in Charlotte.

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Monday, City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County leaders got a taste of what it will look like. 

"I don't think it's just a worthwhile investment, it's one of the most transformational opportunities charlotte has or is going to have for a long time," Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari said. 

City and county leaders toured the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem on Monday, with hopes of bringing something similar to Charlotte.

The quarter is anchored by Wake Forest School of Medicine, where city and county leaders got the chance to see the anatomy lab, the clinical skills lab, patient simulation suites, and yes, even a mannequin ready for surgery.  

All of this is coming to Charlotte soon. 

The Wake Forest School of Medicine plans to create a campus in the Midtown area at the corner of Baxter Street and South McDowell Street. Ground will break next year, with a targeted completion date of 2024.  

Bokhari said Charlotte is inventing what healthcare post-pandemic will look like. 

"We're at a crossroads right now where we're designing the first medical university post-pandemic," he said. "Most people are trying to figure out how they shuffle what they already have. We're trying to figure out how these things work long-term and 20 years from now what's the environment going to look like."

But the innovation quarter in Winston-Salem is more than just the school of medicine. It's a place where people live, work, and play as well -- with more than 1,000 apartments, more than 90 companies, and a 1.6-acre park in the heart of the quarter. 

Leaders say it's all about building community and have said they need to get the community involved in the process. 

The medical campus in Charlotte is projected to generate an additional $5.2 billion in economic impact and create nearly 43,000 jobs over the course of the next 20 years. 

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