Case Western Reserve University's plan to build a spacious, modern facility to house its excellent medical school is good news in and of itself.

The school, already considered to be among the nation's best, is certain to improve its standing with accreditors at the Association of American Medical Colleges once its professors and medical students take possession of a 160,000-square-foot building that will stand on East 105th Street, at the former site of the Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

The new school will have room for more students -- a plus as the nation enters an era during which a greater need for primary care doctors is a certainty -- and will offer a greatly improved learning environment.

What makes news of the project even better is the support it enjoys from two major local foundations. The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation and the Cleveland Foundation will each contribute $10 million to its support -- a record for each foundation.

With the Cleveland Foundation's declaration of support came the added pledge that the contribution toward the new medical school would be the first of a number of large grants to be announced as the foundation approaches its centennial in 2014. The promise of a burst of extraordinary activity by Cleveland's charitable colossus is welcome indeed.

In announcing their backing for the new medical school, both foundations recognized the impact that improvements at the medical school can have on the entire region. Solidifying Northeast Ohio's growing reputation as a national center of medical and biomedical expertise is of vital importance.

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Plan for new Case Western Reserve University medical school deserves support: editorial