Those planning to expand the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine in Augusta and throughout the state got the go-ahead Monday to continue that planning.

But Augusta-area lawmakers said they still have a lot of questions about the expansion plans, and they will be demanding answers starting Wednesday.

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted to accept a report from consulting firm Tripp Umbach, of Pittsburgh, that recommends growth in the MCG medical school from 745 students to 1,200 by 2020. The plan calls for a regional medical school campus in Athens in conjunction with the University of Georgia, with the first students enrolling as early as next year.

MCG President Daniel W. Rahn said the Tripp Umbach work will serve as a "road map" as the school and university system begin more detailed planning.

"The consultant's recommendation is not the Regents' strategic plan. It is a framework for planning," he said. "We'll just be taking this a step at a time. This is an initiative that will unfold over years. So there will be many different decision points along the way. I just think this opens the door for us to begin down that road."

For instance, the school needs to hire about a dozen or so people to help with new administrative duties related to expansion, such as a dean for the regional campus and additional faculty, Dr. Rahn said. Those and other elements must be in place before a satellite in Athens could be accredited as part of MCG.

"The faster we can move, the more likely we are to hit fall of 2009 as a start date," Dr. Rahn said.

Efforts are already under way to expand clerkships for students at a clinical campus in Albany and to establish some in Savannah.

"We just need more administrative faculty capacity to work with the community physicians to develop these clerkships," Dr. Rahn said.

University system Chancellor Erroll B. Davis said he planned to keep the Regents "very closely involved" with the progress of planning and provide monthly updates on those plans.

"That will make sure that if there are some political sensitivities or economic sensitivities that they have an opportunity to inform us before we go forward with the expansion," he said. "We'll start executing our plan, assuming we get the money to do it. We don't have the money yet."

And that's where the Legislature comes in. Gov. Sonny Perdue has requested $7.2 million for next fiscal year for planning, which would become $10 million when added to recurring funding for planning. The Regents are first up Wednesday for budget hearings before the House Appropriations Committee and its chairman, Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Evans. And he has questions, as do others in the Legislature.

"We're going to ask the questions, and we're going to get the answers," he said. "If we don't get the answers, I don't think it's fair to the people of Georgia that we put any money into the program, if we don't get the answers to know what their timeline is, what kind of commitment are you going to make to Augusta, and how will this look when we're through. And will it meet the needs for the future of Georgia, because we do need physicians."

There likely will be other hearings also. The House Study Committee on Medical Education is trying to meet this week with consultant Paul Umbach to go over the report, said Rep. Barbara Sims, R-Augusta, a member of that committee.

"I do not understand why you would want to begin something new when you haven't finished expanding what you already have, which won't cost the taxpayers anything compared to what a new school would cost," she said.

State Sen. Ed Tarver, D-Augusta, is trying to set up a way to get answers to his concerns because he doesn't want it to come down to a budget fight.

"As a legislator representing Augusta, recognizing MCG's importance to the local economy and to our community, I don't want to be put in a position where my only recourse is to challenge the appropriation in the budget," he said. "There's nobody in the General Assembly that wants to find a way to embrace this plan more than I do, as long as it's going to be best for Georgians as a whole and also best for Augusta."

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.