The Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences is taking a second look at a possible satellite campus in Joplin, although no final decision is expected until April, city and school officials said.

Two representatives of the private osteopathic medical school's Strategic Expansion Task Force were in Joplin last week to visit potential sites and discuss the project with city and business leaders, said Lisa Cambridge, spokeswoman for the school.

The representatives visited Missouri Southern State University and heard a presentation from the city's master developer, David Wallace, Cambridge told The Joplin Globe.

The task force toured the university's Health Sciences Building and discussed student amenities and what type of research the faculty was conducting, said Pat Lipira, vice president of academic affairs at the university.

"For us, we'd just love to see a medical school, regardless of where it is located," Lipira said. "We know many of our students would be interested in that. We have a good rate of acceptance into medical schools."

Wallace told the Joplin City Council on Jan. 14 that he would make a presentation on a proposal to build a $79 million campus in downtown Joplin but other buildings and locations could be involved because the university had suggested it might want a downtown location for offices and classrooms but have students housed elsewhere.

Wallace told the city council a medical school could add $50 million a year to Joplin's economy.

"We are all for a medical education facility coming here, whether it be on the Missouri Southern campus or the downtown area," Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean said. "We are just happy it would be in Joplin. It would be a catalyst to continuing downtown development. I think it will be a win all around for the city."

Expansion talks between the school and city were derailed in the spring of 2010 in the midst of a dispute between the university and it board. The university had fired its former president, Karen Pletz, and sued her, prompting a lawsuit from her. And the Internal Revenue Service was auditing the school.

Pletz later faced 24 federal charges alleging she had embezzled more than $1.5 million over seven years. She committed suicide in November 2011.

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KC medical school eyes new Joplin campus