Medical College of Georgia took another step toward statewide expansion Monday when it announced a leader for its new clinical campus in Savannah. But it is still working on the cost of the effort over the next five years, which could be revealed in August.

Kathryn Martin, currently the administrator of the Chatham County Health Department, will become assistant dean for the MCG Southeast Georgia Campus on July 1. The school has a similar clinical campus in Albany, Ga., and is working to create a four-year satellite campus in Athens in conjunction with the University of Georgia.

Dr. Martin, an Aiken County native, is a former MCG employee and a current instructor at Mercer University School of Medicine. She is excited about bringing more medical education to her adopted hometown.

"It's a beautiful community that is very progressive and is ripe for health care, especially when it comes to growth," she said. "I see us as being in a nice position to move forward, particularly when it comes to medical education."

D. Douglas Miller, the dean of the MCG School of Medicine, said the school is also moving toward hiring a regional dean for the Athens campus, with rounds of initial interviews last month and this month, he said. Some candidates will return for further interviews and campus visits in July.

The school is also preparing proposed five-year budgets for the expansion. They will be reviewed by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents at its August meeting, Dr. Miller said.

"We want to make sure that the regents have seen, as a result of their (expansion) resolution, that continued efforts to expand in a cost-effective way are being brought forward," he said.

Savannah will see the expansion of two medical schools. Mercer is working to expand by 60 students with Memorial Health University Medical Center. MCG hopes to have 30 students at a residential clinical campus for third- and fourth-year students in two to three years, Dr. Miller said. All of those students will need clinical rotations and clinical faculty, which could put a strain on what's available in Savannah, he acknowledged.

"I think we'll have to find a cooperative approach without entering into a competition for voluntary clinical faculty," Dr. Miller said. "We've got to think about being efficient and recognize that there are only so many physicians in the area that are going to have the time to teach, and we value that greatly."

But Dr. Martin said she is confident Savannah physicians will aid MCG.

"MCG's alumni are all over the state, and we have a number of them here in Savannah who would like to give back to their school," she said. "And this is one way they can do so, by becoming clinical faculty for MCG."