OLYMPIA -- University of Washington doesn't object to another medical school in Spokane, as long as Washington State University doesn't get to keep nearly $6 million in state money for the current program, UW officials told legislators this morning.

That money should be used for the incoming class of WWAMI students in Spokane, not for students WSU might be able to have in the future, Ian Goodhew, chief information officer for the UW School of Medicine, told the House Higher Education Committee. "We would go backwards in Spokane."

The committee was in the middle of a bill that would amend a law that gives UW exclusive rights to medical education at state universities which has its roots in a 1917 argument between the two schools over which majors each should offer. WSU President Elson Floyd said the new medical school would focus on a "collaborative model"  both with UW medical school program in Spokane and WSU's schools of Nursing and Pharmacy on the Riverpoint campus.

The push for a second medical is sometimes described as a conflict between the two universities, Floyd said. "It's far from that," he added, it's an effort to address the need for more doctors in the state.

The law restricting medical education to UW is old and deserves a review, Goodhew said. "Whatever this committee decides to do, first and foremost do no harm to the University of Washington."

The two universities have collaborated for years on medical education in Spokane under the UW program, which trains students from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. That WWAMI program plans to expand from 20 students a year in Spokane to 40 this year, and the Legislature set aside $3.8 million for UW and $5.9 million for WSU to pay for the expansion, Goodhew said.

But WSU would keep its share of the money to develop the new school it is proposing, he said. "We would not be able to teach the 40 students we have planned."

The Legislature should reallocate that money for UW to "teach students now, not down the road," he said.

Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, the bill's sponsor, said the bill is a simple policy change of what he called "an archaic law", and the full cost of WSU's proposal isn't known yet. Would he be willing to delay for a year for a legislative study, Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, asked.

No, replied Riccelli; studies have already been done, and the Legislature doesn't need another one sitting on a shelf: "That puts us down a dangerous path. We need to move and we need to move now."

The committee is expected to decide whether to send the bill to the full House in the coming weeks. 

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