Chicago-based DePaul University is seeking to expand its healthcare education program, an initiative that may lead to the construction of another medical school in the Chicagoland area, according to Crain's Chicago Business.
A. Gabriel Esteban, PhD, president of DePaul University, told Crain's Chicago Business Thursday he can't imagine one of the nation's largest Catholic universities not cultivating a larger presence in the healthcare industry, according to the report.
"We'll explore all options as to what it means, and what sort of commitment it's going to take if we're going to get involved in health sciences," Dr. Esteban said. "We are the largest private Catholic [educational] institution in the country, and we don't have that presence [in healthcare]. If our mission is to serve the population we serve, and provide job opportunities — make sure they have job opportunities — then it makes perfect sense."
Dr. Esteban told Crain's it is still unclear how the university will expand its presence in the healthcare industry. However, any venture into the healthcare arena would bring DePaul into fierce competition with other universities with established healthcare programs and medical schools, including Evanston, Ill.-based Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, along with three other institutions.
But Dr. Esteban maintains some experience in expanding an educational facility's healthcare initiatives. He previously served as president of South Orange, N.J.-based Seton Hall University, which partnered with Hackensack (N.J.) University Health Network to create a joint medical school in 2015. The school is on track to open in 2018.