What is the Spokane Teaching Health Consortium and why was it formed? The Spokane Teaching Health Consortium (STHC) formed in November 2013 in response to a funding opportunity through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to pay for more medical residency positions in Spokane. It is a joint venture between Empire Health Foundation, Providence Health Care and Washington State University. STHC received accreditation to serve as the sponsor from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in January 2014 and now sponsors the residency programs in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and rural training, along with a Transitional Year program that trains new doctors for a year until they enter a specialty residency. Providence Health Care remains the sponsor of the Radiology and Psychiatry residency programs. The Consortium was formed with the purpose of expanding the number of residency slots and ultimately increasing the number of doctors practicing in our region. Why are medical residencies important? 49% of physicians choose to practice in areas where they did their residencies. Expanding residency slots is a primary strategy in reversing the state’s physician shortage. Washington state has about 1,600 residency positions, with only about 90 of these in the Spokane region. With more newly insured patients and an aging physician workforce, we need more doctors. By 2030 our state needs to add more than 4,200 physicians to meet our state’s health care needs. What is the University District Health Clinic? The University District Health Clinic (UDHC) will be the venue for medical residents to practice, along with health sciences students from WSU, Eastern Washington University and the University of Washington. The new two-­‐story, 40,000 square foot facility is under construction on WSU’s downtown Spokane campus and will open in mid-­‐2016. The residents and students will practice there under the supervision of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals and serve many of the same patients now being served by the medical residents in the two residency clinics in the 5th and Browne Medical Center. Those clinics will close and move to the UDHC. What is the difference between a medical student and a medical resident and what role will each have at the University District Health Clinic? Medical students are enrolled in medical school. Residents are graduates of medical school. Prior to going into private practice, medical school graduates must complete a residency, or training program of three to seven years. The clinic will provide a unique opportunity for medical students to work collaboratively with students and professionals across the healthcare spectrum, including medical residents, thus teaching them a new way to provide care. What is the status of the WSU Medical School? In 2015, the Washington Legislature approved House Bill 1559 which granted Washington State University the authority to create the state’s second publicly-­‐
funded medical school. The Legislature also appropriated $2.5 million to WSU during the 2015-­‐17 biennium to begin the national accreditation process. If all goes as planned, the new WSU College of Medicine will begin teaching first-­‐year medical students in the fall of 2017. Will the STHC have a role in the future WSU medical school? The Consortium does not have a formal role in WSU’s process for moving forward with its medical school plans. However, the missions of the clinic and the medical school are complementary – to fill important gaps in our community by improving access to quality health care. Are the University District Health Clinic and the WSU Medical School connected? The University District Health Clinic will be housed on the WSU campus and the medical residents who will train in the clinic will work under sponsorship of the STHC. Although each has distinct governing structures, the missions of the STHC, clinic and the future WSU medical school complement each other in that each seek to expand the primary care physician pipeline and increase access to health care. The future medical school is solely under the auspices of WSU. Third-­‐ and fourth-­‐
year students will have the option of doing some of their clinical rotations at the new clinic. They will interview patients, take their case histories and work with residents to diagnose and treat patients. Other WSU health sciences students, including those in the pharmacy and nursing programs, will also work at the clinic. How many medical residents work in Spokane? 89 How are the residencies funded? Most of Spokane’s residency slots are funded by the Medicare program. For years there were 21 residents each in the Family Medicine and Internal Medicine programs. The Medicare program had not allowed for expansion of residency programs since 1996. Then, in November 2013, the STHC received funding from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand medical residency slots for both the Internal Medicine and Family Medicine programs. The HRSA funding provided for six additional total residents in 2014-­‐15, bringing the total from 21 for each residency to 24 for each residency (total of 48). In January 2015, the Spokane Teaching Health Center voted unanimously to approve a second class of six residents to start their program in June 2015. In addition, the 2015-­‐17 Washington state budget includes $16.2 million in new funding to expand family medicine residencies throughout the state. Some of that may be allocated to Spokane. This money will assist in offsetting the expense of teaching family medicine residents. How is the WSU Medical School funded? WSU Medical School funding comes mostly from state and private, not federal sources. The WSU College of Medicine will be funded by student tuition, state funding and private gifts. An initial appropriation of $2.5 million during the 2015-­‐17 biennium will cover the initial costs of gaining national accreditation for the school. How is construction of the University District Health Clinic being funded? In September 2014, the WSU Board of Regents approved $16.25 million in bonding authority to support construction of the University District Health Clinic. No state funding was used to pay construction costs. The bond payments will be made with money generated through rental agreements with Washington State University and the various entities working within the building.