KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - A groundbreaking ceremony occurred Friday morning for the new Western Michigan University medical school.

The school has been granted preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the national accrediting body for educational programs leading to the MD degree.

"This is an important step because we now have the go-ahead to recruit students for our first class to begin in August 2014," Dr. Hal B. Jenson, MD, MBA, told the ceremony's crowd.

The medical school is a collaboration involving WMU and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals -- Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare. It has been in planning since 2008.

In December 2011, William U. Parfet, chairman and CEO of MPI Research in Mattawan, donated the 320,000 square-foot building to WMU to be used by the new medical school.

In March 2011, WMU received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from anonymous donors.

The seven-story building at 300 Portage St. in Kalamazoo is located at the heart of the new W.E. Upjohn Campus. A $68 million renovation and expansion project is scheduled to be completed by May 2014, with 30,000 more square feet to be added to the building.

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WMU School of Medicine building stat sheet (pdf)

WMU School of Medicine future floor plans (pdf)

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Ground broken for WMU medical school