Despite the failed passage of Missouri Proposition B during the Nov. 6 general election, the expansion of the University of Missouri Medical School will continue as originally planned.
“Proposition B was never meant to be the full funding for the project, simply the catalyst to speed things up,” said Weldon Webb, associate dean of rural health at the MU School of Medicine.
A partnership between the university and Springfield-based CoxHealth and Mercy Springfield Communities, the $33 million project would expand the Columbia medical school campus, allowing the university to add 128 medical students annually, with 32 from each class completing the second two years of their medical education in a Springfield clinical campus.
The passage of Prop B – a proposed 17-cent tax increase on cigarettes to primarily benefit Missouri schools – would have accelerated project construction, Webb said, with work under way in June 2013 and the first students in classrooms by August 2015.
However, the university is now seeking funding through the legislature and private donors as originally planned. A timeline will not be set until funding is in place.
Mixed messages According to a news release from the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association PAC, that’s not how the plan was sold to the public. In published reports from an Oct. 31 news conference at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, MU Chancellor Brady Deaton said the project was contingent upon the passage of Prop B.
“Our message to voters was simple; Prop B money was an unnecessary slush fund that wouldn’t go where supporters said it will,” said Ron Leone, executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, in the release. “It only took one week for the false claims peddled by proponents to unravel and the truth to be revealed.”
Webb said the failed ballot measure would not affect plans for the project going forward, only the timeline.
“It’s my understanding, [Deaton] was speaking to the June 2013 construction schedule if Prop B passed,” he said. “There were never any plans to scrap the project, we just went back to our original funding model.”
CoxHealth President and CEO Steve Edwards said he continues to support the project.
“All parties have met and reaffirmed our commitment,” he said. “Prop B would have facilitated the process sooner, but without it will we just have to rely on more traditional funding. This is something needed in the community and something we are looking forward to being a part of.”
Serving a need According to a release from the university, more than 90 percent of Missouri counties lack adequate access to health care professionals. Since 2005, more than 85 MU medical students have received training at southwest Missouri health facilities through the MU School of Medicine rural track program. The program encourages physicians to complete part of their clinical education in underserved areas and to then practice in Missouri.
“Students who study in this community are more likely to stay in this community,” Edwards said of CoxHealth’s goal for long-term physician recruitment.
Edwards said the clinical campus would not be an expense for CoxHealth because classrooms are not needed. The hospital plans to convert unused conference space into a lounge and meeting room for students, and the university would pay all faculty salaries. Webb said the program will cost about $2 million a year to maintain once in place.
According to an economic impact study by the Springfield-Greene County Regional Health Commission released April 6, the clinical campus project would provide more than 300 additional physicians for Missouri, add more than $390 million annually to the state’s economy and create 3,500 new jobs.[[In-content Ad]]
