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

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted to accept a report from consultant Tripp Umbach of Pittsburgh that would see the medical school at MCG grow 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 perhaps as early as next year.

Today's quick acceptance of the report, which was first presented to the Regents last week, makes that timetable more likely, MCG President Daniel W. Rahn said this morning.

While it does not mean that the regents accepted everything in the plan, it also means there wasn't anything there that they strenuously objected to, Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. said today in an interview with The Chronicle.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed $7.2 million for next fiscal year to help fund the continued planning for expansion, for which another $2.8 million in recurring funds would also be added, according to officials.

The plan envisions expanding a clinical campus in Albany and establishing one in Savannah, with some clinical clerkships starting there perhaps as early as next year, Dr. Rahn said.

MCG would expand from 190 to 240 students in Augusta once a new $99 million medical education facility is built, according to the Tripp Umbach plan. MCG is still talking to officials about acquiring the Gilbert Manor public housing complex next door, where the new medical education facility and a new School of Dentistry building is envisioned.

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