Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health’s $1.5 billion innovation district, The Pearl, opened June 2.
The 20-acre development houses Charlotte’s first four-year medical school and aims to become a hub for biomedical research, surgical training and community development. The project is led by Atrium Health and Wexford Science & Technology.
The site includes the newly constructed Charlotte campus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the North American headquarters of IRCAD, a global surgical training institute. The medical school is set to welcome its first class in July, with plans to expand enrollment over the next several years. Training at IRCAD North America is scheduled to begin in September.
According to a news release Atrium Health shared with Becker’s, The Pearl is expected to create more than 5,500 on-site jobs and more than 11,500 total jobs across the region within 15 years.
“We built The Pearl to unlock the next era of clinical breakthroughs by uniting the brightest minds with the most advanced technologies in modern medicine,” Eugene Woods, CEO of Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, of which Atrium Health is a part, said in the release.
Atrium announced the development of The Pearl in 2021.
