OLYMPIA -- A bill that would allow Washington State University to start a medical school in Spokane passed a House committee on a 12-1 vote..

Before passing the bill, the committee rejected a proposal that would have delayed the authorization for a year while a study was conducted on the need for expanded medical services and the best way to fill it. Another amendment that would have required WSU to prove it would teach students standard practices on reproductive health and end-of-life issues was withdrawn.

The bill authorizes the WSU Board of Regents to offer medical education at the Spokane campus, but doesn't set aside money to do that. Funding decisions are made by the Appropriations Committee, Chairman Drew Hansen said.

The committee removed language that directed the regents to start  medical school "forthwith" and instead approved language in state law that confines the training of physicians to University of Washington.

Rep. Gerry Pollett, D-Seattle, tried to change the bill to authorizing only a one-year study of the best way to meet the state's growing need for more doctors and other health care professionals. Some experts say the state needs more residency programs, which medical students take after completing four years of medical school.

"It is sensible to say let's study and report back," Pollett said.

But Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, shot back: "We don't need a study to determine care in Eastern Washington is at a critical state." States with smaller populations have more medical schools than Washington, he said, and "this is just the beginning."

Pollett's amendment failed on a voice vote, and he withdrew a second proposed amendment that would have required that any state university's  medical students would be trained in "medically based, accurate and appropriate information" regardless of the policies of its partners.

The amendment was aimed at making sure policies at potential partners like Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, which is a Catholic institution, don't keep students from learning medical practices connected to reproductive health, abortion and end-of-life treatments. Pollett said he had been assured by WSU officials, through the bill's sponsor Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, such training would be offered.

The Senate version of the bill is scheduled for a vote in that chamber's Higher Education Committee this afternoon.

 

 

---

---