The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board certified the New York Institute of Technology for an osteopathic medical school site on the Arkansas State University campus in Jonesboro.
The certification was for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Master of Science in Medical/Health Care Stimulation and Master of Science in Neuromusculoskeletal Sciences, and is contingent on NYIT obtaining regional and national accreditation. A-State and NYIT are set to appear before the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation on Sept. 6 in Chicago to present its application.
“We appreciate the great cooperation of all of the parties involved in getting us to this point today,” Shane Broadway, director of Arkansas Department of Higher Education, said in a news release. “It has required a great deal of time and effort by our staff and that of Arkansas State, NYIT and the State Medical Board. We look forward to seeing great things with this partnership for our state.”
A-State announced last June it was exploring the establishment of an osteopathic medical school, and entered discussions with NYIT in December. In February and March, each institution’s board of trustees approved the partnership.
The osteopathic medical school is projected to have a startup cost of $10 million. A-State would invest $4 million for renovations to Wilson Hall, while NYIT would invest $6 million for startup operating funds and faculty for the school’s first three years.
NYIT’s College of Osteopathic Medicine is the largest single-site medical school in the country. The proposed A-State location would enroll its first students in August 2016 with a target class of 115.
“Collaborating with a nationally respected, well established osteopathic medical school and dozens of partners in the mid-South medical community will enable us to address the shortage of primary care physicians in the underserved Delta,” Tim Hudson, chancellor of Arkansas State, said in the release. “We’re also proud that we can minimize the startup investment while maximizing the transformative impact on our university, community and state. We want to thank the Higher Education Coordinating Board and Director Broadway and his staff, and we look forward to the next important step with the COCA board.”
A study commissioned by A-State earlier this year found an osteopathic medical school on the Jonesboro campus would help meet the demand for primary-care physicians in the Delta. It would also inject $70 million into the region, the study found.
Among other findings were that a shortage of physicians in northeast Arkansas and the Delta would worsen when more than a quarter of Arkansas’ physicians retire within the next five years. In addition, more doctors will be needed in the region as more people gain access to health insurance through the private option.
The study said the medical school would be “a major driver of the regional economy,” and would create “thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in annual net impact to the region.”
Fort Smith Osteopathic Medical School
A-State is not alone in its venture for an osteopathic medical school as things continue to move forward on another osteopathic medical school in Fort Smith.
Earlier this month, Sparks Health System announced it was putting $13.5 million toward the proposed school at Chaffee Crossing. Another $10 million, from Sparks, would go toward the school Dec. 1, 2015.
The project has been estimated at $75 million. Before the donation from Sparks, Kyle Parker, president and CEO of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education and the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, told Arkansas Business the school had about $80 million in cash-on-hand.
Risley & Associates of Fort Smith was recently chosen as the school’s architect. Dirt work is to begin on the 100,000-SF facility in September with construction work following in the spring.
The osteopathic school, which named Dr. Kenneth A. Heiles as its dean in May, is set to open in August 2016 with a target class of 150 students.
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