Senate debates medical training plan

A long-hoped-for proposal to train first-year medical and dental students in Spokane is giving some Western Washington lawmakers sticker shock.

Lawmakers got a look at the bill Monday, during the first of two days of Senate hearings at the Davenport Hotel.

In a joint presentation to the Senate’s education committee, officials from several universities pegged the startup cost of the program at nearly $21 million over the next two years.

“I understand the benefit, but boy, the dollars are short,” Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Bothell, told proponents of the program.

“If we say yes to you, we have to say no to a lot of other people.”

Under the plan, 20 medical students and eight dental students would study for their first year at Washington State University’s Riverpoint campus in Spokane.

They would then move to the University of Washington’s Seattle campus to continue their education.

About $13 million of the price is operating costs, divided among three state universities. Most of the remaining $8 million would be spent at the UW in Seattle, to convert and upgrade some labs and classrooms to accommodate the new students when they arrive there to start year two.

Brian Pitcher, the chancellor of WSU Spokane, said the program would be a “win, win, win.” With the UW’s medical and dental facilities now at capacity, he said, Riverpoint’s the logical place to add new first-year students.

The Riverpoint campus has room, he said, and nearby Eastern Washington University already runs the state’s only four-year dental hygienist program. Spokane is a regional medical hub.

Local business and health care leaders also hope that the students return to Spokane or surrounding rural communities as doctors and dentists.

Several Puget Sound-area senators, however, balked at the idea of spending so much on so few students.

“People are screaming for education dollars on every level,” said Schmidt. “You’ve got to make a better sales job to me. I don’t get this.”

Snohomish County residents have long been calling for more higher-education opportunities there, and Schmidt said the money requested for the Spokane medical and dental program could go much further with other students. There are 700,000 people in the Snohomish County area, he said, and no state four-year school.

Sen. Jeanne Berkey, D-Everett, also had reservations.

“That’s a little overwhelming when you pare it down to those numbers,” she said of the cost. “Maybe it would be better to have those classes where we already have a school.”

Dr. Paul Ramsey, dean of UW’s School of Medicine, said the cost of teaching the first-year students in Spokane is about the same as the cost of teaching them in Seattle.

Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island, questioned whether the students will really return to the Spokane region years later.

Ramsey said studies suggest that they will.

“Yes, there is a track record of return,” he said.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said that the fate of the proposal rests with the universities and local health care officials.

“A lot of the heavy lifting will have to come from the medical community,” he said.

“They’ll have to be active in explaining and promoting this.”

But the cost of launching the program shouldn’t come as a surprise, he said, citing high costs of other programs, such as WSU’s veterinary school.

“You don’t train veterinarians for the same price that you do English majors,” Schoesler said.