Gov. Butch Otter has called for adding five more seats to the WWAMI collaborative medical school program that allows Idaho students to attend med school at the University of Washington, with the seats targeted to a program aimed at rural areas. He also is calling for more residency programs at the Boise VA Medical center; both moves are aimed at addressing the state’s physician shortage, and the aging of its physician workforce. "Like the rest of my budget, both these requests deserve your strong support," Otter told lawmakers, grinning as they responded with a round of applause.

He’s also touting his administration’s Medical Home Collaborative, which is aimed at moving Medicaid to a “patient-centered model of care” in which patients and their primary physicians work more closely together.

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