Sam Houston State University’s proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine will officially be located in the master-planned community Grand Central Park, according to an Oct. 3 news release.

SHSU has been working on the proposed college since 2015 to meet the needs of the medically underserved East Texas region. According to SHSU, the college will collaborate with hospitals in rural East Texas counties to establish residency-training programs and already has confirmed affiliation agreements with hospitals.

“Eighty percent of counties in Texas are classified as medically underserved, largely due to a severe shortage of primary care physicians,” SHSU President Dana Hoyt said in a statement. “Eighty percent of the state also ranks 47th in the number of primary care physicians and by 2030 this shortage is projected to worsen by 67 percent.”

Located on more than 2,000 acres on Loop 336 South, Johnson Development Corp.’s Grand Central Park development includes homes and commercial amenities in the 336 Marketplace.

SHSU Associate Director of Communications Emily Binetti said the College of Osteopathic Medicine will be situated on a 7.3-acre property within Grand Central Park.

The five-story building will be 216,000-square-feet in size upon complete buildout, but phase one will only include 108,000 square feet with surface parking. Construction is expected to break ground by the end of 2018, with completion scheduled for December 2019, Binetti said.

On Aug. 14, SHSU’s proposed doctorate in osteopathic medicine was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

However, as of Wednesday, the college was still awaiting accreditation from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation before the college’s future in Grand Central Park is confirmed.

For more information about the proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine and SHSU, click here.