Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation's only historically Black and Catholic university, and Ochsner Health, the Gulf South's largest nonprofit health system, have partnered to establish Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM), a new medical school in New Orleans, Louisiana. XOCOM joins the ranks of Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science as one of the nation's few historically Black medical schools.

Our client, Hope Enterprise Corporation, invested $12.5 million in Federal New Markets Tax Credit allocation to support the renovation and equipping of academic space in downtown New Orleans totaling 72,945 sqft. XOCOM was established to directly address health disparities in the State of Louisiana, which is facing one of the country’s most severe physician shortages, and within the City of New Orleans, which is federally designated as medically underserved. The investment will support XOCOM's efforts to build a strong physician workforce in the Gulf South, with the goal of improving health outcomes across the region.

At full enrollment, XOCOM will educate approximately 400 medical students a year, 85% of whom are expected to be low-income persons or residents of low-income communities.

Services Provided by Classic Lake:

• New Markets Tax Credit CDE Advisory

Community and Economic Impacts

• Creates 79 construction jobs

• Creates 89 new permanent full-time positions

• Educates approximately 400 medical students annually at full capacity (85% low-income)

• Establishes the first HBCU college of medicine in the Gulf South