Candidate Proposes Med School
By Jeff Tuttle
Blaine House hopeful Pat LaMarche on Thursday called for the creation of a Bangor-area medical school as part of a plan to increase access to health care in the state. "This isn't a new idea; it's just a good idea," LaMarche said at a news conference at Husson College, where she was joined by several supporters dressed in hospital scrubs emblazoned with the candidate's name.
Bill Beardsley, president of Husson College, said the creation of a medical school in the Bangor area was logical considering the recent rise of healthcare related degree programs offered at the region's colleges and universities. "She's right on the money in that area," Beardsley said. |
"If we want our kids to stay in Maine, if we want them to have high paying jobs, if we want health care extended into our most rural areas ... then we need the educational opportunities and the health-care accessibility these schools provide," she said.
LaMarche, who is running for governor as a Maine Green Independent Party candidate, also called for the creation of a dental school and a pharmacy school in the area.
Maine has only one medical school, the University of New England's College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford. It is privately funded and opened in 1978.
The idea of creating a state medical school has been proposed several times before. The idea, however, has not come to fruition largely because of the prohibitive costs associated with such a venture.
 Pat LaMarche calls for medical, dental and pharmacy schools in Maine as part of a plan to increase access to health care in the state. enlarge
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LaMarche on Thursday countered that the cost of not educating physicians in Maine is too high. She cited the state's current practice of reserving seats for Maine students at other medical schools in New England at an annual cost of $100,000.
Furthermore, she said, Maine is missing out on millions of federal research dollars that go to medical schools elsewhere in the country.
Also on hand at LaMarche's news conference Thursday was Bill Beardsley, president of Husson College. He said the creation of a medical school in the Bangor area was logical considering the recent rise of healthcare related degree programs offered at the region's colleges and universities.
"She's right on the money in that area," Beardsley said.
The small press conference in Bangor garnered responses from some of the region's largest health-care and higher education institutions.
Dr. James Raczek, vice president and chief medical officer at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, said the creation of a medical school, in general terms, could prove beneficial in a number of areas including physician recruitment and retention, as well as research and overall patient care.
"Certainly, from the institution's perspective, we would be very interested in participating in any discussions on this issue," Raczek said.
University of Maine spokesman Joe Carr on Thursday called the concept a valid one and "worthy of continued discussion and consideration."
In her Thursday presentation, LaMarche offered little detail about the prospective cost or location of a new medical school. She did say, however, that the old Bangor Theological Seminary campus could prove a workable site. She also said that the new school would not be a stand-alone institution, but most likely an affiliate of an existing college or university.
LaMarche said she developed the idea from a 1995 report from the Maine Healthcare Reform Commission citing the need to educate doctors in Maine.
The Green nominee also used the Thursday forum to take a jab at the current administration of Gov. John Baldacci for creating another blue ribbon commission this week to study health care in Maine.
"Maine has more blue ribbons than the Blue Hill Fair," she said, noting that there have been three health care commission reports since 1995. "It's time to implement these ideas."
Baldacci spokesman Jesse Connolly rebuffed LaMarche's criticism of the new commission, designed to improve the state's Dirigo Health program. The program aims to extend health insurance coverage to uninsured Mainers, control health care costs and improve the quality of health care.
"Maine has turned the corner under this governor in reducing the number of people who are uninsured in our state," Connolly said. "This commission will look at ways to make that program even better."
