\By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

St. Luke Hospital CEO Jeremy Ensey will serve on the board for a planned osteopathic medical school in Wichita.

Kansas Health Science Center is a private, nonprofit institution with a goal of increasing access to medical education and addressing a growing need for physicians.

Ensey was asked to be part of the board to bring a rural perspective, he said.

“It’s hard to attract physicians to rural health care,” Ensey said. “Kansas ranks 40th in the nation for active physicians per capita.”

The effort to bring a medical school to Wichita has been discussed for a few years but gathered momentum when Riverside Health Foundation in Wichita made a large funding pledge to the project, Ensey said.

Subject to approval of its educational programs, Kansas Health Science Center will start construction this year and begin teaching its first class in 2021.

“It’s exciting to see something start at the ground level and take off,” Ensey said. “We know what the need is in Kansas for physicians. Being in Marion for seven years and having to recruit physicians, we know there’s not enough physicians.”

The school is part of a proposed $75-million complex of five buildings including a medical school, student housing, and a 119-room hotel.

Kansas Health Science Center has formed a partnership with TCS Education System of Chicago for what TCS calls “strategic planning.”

Tiffany Masson, dean of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Chicago classes and online studies, will serve as president.

Osteopathic physician Robert Hasty will be founding dean and chief academic officer. He previously was dean at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine in Meridian, Idaho; associate dean at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lillington, North Carolina; and program director at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Vadim Levitin will be chairman of the board. Levitin is also chairman of the board of Saybrook University.

Other board members include board members of the Chicago School and TCS Education System, a Wichita attorney, and people involved in the medical field in Wichita.

“They have a very strong board with a range of different experiences,” Ensey said. “A few of them do have ties to Riverside and the health foundation, so they do come from that aspect.”