Bill allows WSU to move forward on proposed plan to establish new medical school
OLYMPIA – For almost 100 years, the University of Washington served our state as the sole institution of higher learning offering degrees in the field of medicine. That could all change now that State Representative Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, has passed his landmark legislation out of the House of Representatives with a vote of 81-17. HB 1559 removes language from a 1917 statute that limits teaching certain types of education, like medical education, to specific schools.
“We have a growing need in our state. We are not meeting that need currently or looking to the future,” said Rep. Riccelli. “We can do better in this state and change this 100 year old law. This is about community-based medical education. This is about the primary care access that folks need. This is about moving forward.”
Washington State University has proposed a new hospital using existing facilities in Spokane in order to accommodate their new program. WSU’s concept features an innovative community-based model that spreads training programs to hospitals and branch campuses statewide and avoids the expense of creating a new teaching hospital.
“Spokane has the needed infrastructure to hit the ground running right away. We have a growing biomedical field and opportunities for research and development that make Spokane the right location to start a new medical school,” said Riccelli.
“Today’s vote sends a powerful message that century-old policy is inadequate to meet the needs of 21st Century Washington,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. “If we want more doctors, we must expand our ability to grow our own physician workforce. WSU looks forward to complementing programs at the University of Washington and Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences by delivering new opportunities for Washington students to get a community-based medical education.”
Washington state has had only a single medical school since 1917, while most states of its size are served with multiple medical schools. Enrollment at the University of Washington medical school has also been capped at 120 students per year. But 350 students graduate from Washington universities and go on to medical school, so two-thirds have to leave the state to finish their training.
Many of those students never return, contributing to the physician shortage Washington faces in rural and under-served communities across the state. Just to be at the national average for the number of med-school slots per capita, Washington would need space for 440 students. WSU plans an enrollment that would reach 120 in a decade.
“I see the need for more doctors educated in our state every day. I see many patients coming in from rural areas after they couldn’t get the care they needed in their own communities. The new medical school serves unmet needs across our whole state,” said Dr. Jeremy Graham, an active member of the Washington Alliance of Teaching Physicians and a faculty member at both UW and WSU.
The bill is currently being considered in the state senate.