The Medical College of Georgia should establish a satellite of its medical school in Athens in conjunction with the University of Georgia, as well as expand its Augusta class and increase its presence in Albany and Savannah, according to a report obtained by The Augusta Chronicle .
But some Augusta lawmakers weren't buying it.
The report from consulting firm Tripp Umbach will be publicly presented this morning to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. It predicts dire consequences unless the state acts upon it immediately.
"Georgia has fallen so far behind in training doctors that it may never again have an adequate supply of doctors," the report begins. "Without immediate statewide investment in medical education at the MD level and simultaneous expansion of residency training programs, the future health and safety of Georgians is at risk."
Unless MCG increases its overall class size from 745 to at least 1,200 students, the state faces a deficit of 1,500 physicians in underserved areas by 2020 and could have the lowest physician-per-person ratio in the nation, the report said.
In order to create a 240-student regional satellite in Athens of MCG School of Medicines, the report said, the University of Georgia should immediately locate and renovate a building to accommodate a 40-student class to begin in 2010, the report said. The report recommends expanding to 60 students per class on the Navy Supply Corps School Site once it is vacated around 2012, with the state investing $41 million in 2010 to create facilities there.
MCG already has a clinical campus in Albany, but the report recommended expanding there and creating a clinical campus in Savannah so that each could hold 30 students in clinical rotations. Those expansions would require $2.4 million apiece in 2009.
The Augusta campus should expand from 190 students a year to 240 by 2017 in a combined new facility that will also house the School of Dentistry, Tripp Umbach said. That would require about $99 million in 2010, according to the report, but would save the state about $20 million in efficiencies between the two. MCG is seeking $77 million for the dental school building this session.
Altogether, the recommendations favor spending more than $210 million on new facilities and increasing state support for medical education from $75 million a year to $116 million a year by 2020, according to the report. But Tripp Umbach estimated that for each dollar the state spends, it will get back $2.54 in tax benefits. MCG's overall economic impact would increase from nearly $1 billion a year to $1.6 billion annually, Tripp Umbach said.
In spite of the issue's portrayal as an Athens vs. Augusta battle, the focus should be statewide, said Rep. Bob Smith, R-Watkinsville, a member of the House Study Committee on Medical Education.
"The big picture is, What's the best for the state of Georgia?" the Athens-area lawmaker said.
Georgia Sen. Ed Tarver, D-Augusta, wasn't impressed by the report's conclusions.
"It doesn't examine the credibility and validity of MCG's initial proposal (to expand in Athens)," he said. "It merely adopts the almost exact verbiage and then tells us we need to appropriate a bunch of taxpayer dollars to fund it. We paid them a bunch of money to tell us what we already know."
It also appeared to be a foregone conclusion to Georgia Rep. Hardie Davis, D-Gracewood.
"It gives the appearance there was no objectivity during the investigation and research phase," he said. "I fully support the expansion of the Medical College of Georgia, but I want to see every step taken to expand the central campus prior to expansion outside of the CSRA."
Georgia Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, who led the House Medical Education Study Committee, said he needed more time to examine the findings.
"We were told that there would be an objective report, and I am willing to take people at their word at this point," he said. His committee will examine the report's conclusions before making any recommendations of its own, he said.
Tripp Umbach also favors expanding the state's number of residency positions, where physicians finish out their training, by at least 104 by 2020. The state has about 2,000, but that is about half of the "fair share" it is entitled to, according to the report. Physicians tend to stay in the area where they finish their residencies, lawmakers said.
Without a good residency program, "you're going to train doctors and they're going to leave the state of Georgia," Mr. Smith said.
In order to allay fears in Augusta that the Athens satellite could one day become a competing medical school, the report recommends that there be a signed agreement prohibiting the development of a separate medical school. A similar agreement in Arizona was key to assuaging concerns at the University of Arizona that a branch campus in Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University would one day eclipse the main campus in Tucson, the report noted.
That was the concern expressed by Georgia Sen. Bill Jackson, R-Appling.
"They have assured us everything would be controlled out of Augusta. We've been assured MCG will be the mother of them all. We'll just have to wait and see," he said. "It looks like somebody is hellbent to put that satellite on the Athens campus. There will be a day we'll have to stand up and shout, but that day hasn't come yet."
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
WHAT IT SAYS
Tripp Umbach's report says MCG needs to increase its class size to at least 1,200 students, or Georgia will face a deficit of 1,500 physicians in underserved areas by 2020. Here are some of its recommendations for expanding the school:
- Find and renovate a building in Athens to accommodate a 40-student class by 2010.
- Expand to 60 students per class at the Navy Supply Corps School Site once it is vacated about 2012. Cost to the state: $41 million in 2010
- Expand satellite campus in Albany and create a clinical campus in Savannah; each could host 30 students in clinical rotations. Cost: $2.4 million apiece in 2009.
- Expand Augusta campus from 190 students a year to 240 by 2017 in a combined facility that will also house the School of Dentistry. Cost: $99 million in 2010.
ON THE WEB
To see the proposal, go to http://www.usg.edu/mcg-uga/. The site should be live around noon, according to the University System.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
What happened to the cost benefit analysis study that was supposed to have been done to determine the most economical place to expand in order to turn out more physicians as Sen. Tarver asked? Make no mistake, from now on, every dollar for medical education will be a battle between Athens and Augusta. Everyone in Augusta finally realize what Dr. Rahn has brought.
I do not want to hear about how there will be or is a shortage of doctors. I personally know 3 young men with 4.0 grad average from college , 1 with chemistry major and 1 with biology major, both suma cum laude graduates, high MCAT scores. These young men could not get into Med School because the schools were taking non science degrees Foreigners. Our government pays for their education and we get nothing. The schools get tax breaks for accepting them and when they graduate they go back to their country and take our education and money with them. These 3 wanted to practice med in the rural areas of georgia because they were from the rural area. It is all about the mighty dollar and not a doctor shortage.
Georgia can increase the number of medical students by any number it chooses, but they won't stay in Georgia unless there are residency program slots to accommodate them. Where does this report address the need for expanded residency programs? Hospitals are the ones who bear the brunt of residency training, not medical schools. If you add one student, you need to add one residency slot somewhere in Georgia. Seems like they are dancing around this fundamental issue. If the hospitals are not on board willing to expand resdiencies, all this is smoke and mirrors. By the way, I could have come up with the same report for a hundred bucks an a couple of free lunches.
I think it is time for MCG to establish satellite campuses in Athens, Albany, and Savannah! Pooh on Tarver!
Are there plans to also include the Mercer Univ. in Macon, Ga. and Emory Univ. in Atlanta, Ga. medical school students in the programs? If two heads are better than one, than four heads are better than two...!!!
SELFISHNESS AND GREED. Augustans and Augusta's lawmakers are so worried about the pork for their fat bellies, that they do not consider, even for a minute the real need for doctors we face here in Georgia. Augusta is dragging the rest of Georgia down to its level.
Yeah, everyone has an opinion, but we see few facts here. Where can you most economically train more physicians? I'm willing to bet any real study will say Augusta. How can you keep more physicians in Georgia? With more slots for residents. Sen. Tarver and Rep. Fleming, keep after the facts.
I would say that half of the MCG students are "FOREIGNERS". On the Gilbert Maner side of Laney Walker Boulevard we call that side of campus "China Town".
Ruhappy - The VAST MAJORITY (well over 95%) of MCG medical students are US born Georgia residents. Many of the PhD students and post-docs are international students - but not the medical students.
On the other hand, many of the residents at MCG are international graduates. Unfortunately, some of the MCG residency programs are not particularly attractive to US grads.
Improving medical education, and graduating and retaining more physicians in Georgia, will require more med student positions, more residency slots, and will especially require that he citizens of Georgia (and Augusta and the CSRA in the case of MCG) embrace our academic medical centers as the best place to receive state of the art care. Otherwise, there will not be enough patients to support the medical education effort. Resident education can not be done primarily in private physician practices locally or across the state.
hi
Augusta cannot handle all of the medical students that the state needs, and as a former medical student, you cannot get all of your medical education from private physicians office. Opening up University Hospital as a site for residents and medical students is a good start, but it's not the only solution. Expanding to other cities makes sense, and expanding to Athens is a good logical solution, especially since they have the resources. MCG is not leaving Augusta. There is too much already invested in Augusta, but MCG has a mission to train students and residents for the entire state of Georgia. MCG needs to expand, but there just isn't enough room or resources to expand to the needs in Augusta alone.
The report did call for significantly inceasing residency slots. What we are seeing here are the Augusta area politicians pandering to parochialism and ignoring the needs for the entire state. This report didn't just favor an Athens satellite but also significantly increasing capacity at MCG in Augusta. UGA has expanded satellite programs throughout the state, especially in metro Atlanta. This has not threatened UGA's status, neither will expanding MCGs presence throughout the state hurt MCG.. but will actually enhance its mission and presence in Augusta. We have an objective, unbiased report from an independent, outside agency that says we need to significantly increase medical education all over the state, including in Augusta. But Augusta politicians have shown once again they will ignore the facts and play up the "us" vs "them" politics that are simply divisive and counterproductive.