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Medical School Proposed for Saginaw Eyed by Central Michigan University

CMU Board to Consider Plan By Dr. Malcolm Field Group on Sept. 18

September 1, 2008       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Neurosurgeons Dr. E. Malcolm Field (right) and Dr. Gerald R. Schell (left) are among chief backers of the plan.
 

A tri-county medical school may at last become a reality!

And, planners optimistically envision a research facility that would rival the Mayo Clinic.

A former dump site of 60 acres on the Saginaw River, sold for $1 last week to a medical group, is being considered for the state's newest medical school.

Neurosurgeons Dr. E. Malcolm Field and Dr. Gerald R. Schell are among chief backers of the plan recently discussed by Dr. Michael Rao, president of Central Michigan University, with Saginaw business and governmental leaders.

The CMU board of trustees will review the proposal at a meeting Sept. 18 in Mt. Pleasant.

The board forged ahead with the second phase of the plan in December 2007 after receiving a feasibility report from consultant Michael Whitcomb who noted CMU must be prepared to spend at least $50 million on the school.

Neurosurgeons Dr. E. Malcolm Field and Dr. Gerald R. Schell are among chief backers of the plan recently discussed by Dr. Michael Rao, president of Central Michigan University, center, shown here signing deal with governmental leaders for CMU information center in India.


Under terms of the land deal with Saginaw, the medical group, Michigan HealthPark Development, must spend $10 million to develop the site in the next five years.

Plans proposed for the site include the school campus buildings, medical offices, a rehabilitation-focused hotel, a neuroscience research facility and other medically-related enterprises.

"We're trying to create an environment to make sure there's a world-class level of patient care in Saginaw over the next decade," said Jeffrey R. Schell, project director.

Local development leaders long have toyed with the idea of a medical school in the area, and recently have become energized by the idea, especially since Grand Rapids is nearing establishment of a medical school in partnership with Michigan State University.

Outstate Michigan has long yearned for a medical school since the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas have held the monopoly on such an educational center throughout the state's history.

The idea of a CMU-sponsored medical school was initiated in April 2007 by Dr. Sarn Kottamasu, Saginaw radiologist, a CMU trustee, at a CMU board of trustees meeting.

Dr. Kottamasu noted that his proposal was based on the fact that mid-Michigan is considered a medically-under-served area.

Estimates are that mid-Michigan will be short 600 physicians and the state will have a shortage of about 6,000 by 2010.

CMU has been exploring the idea of its School of Rehabilitation and Medical Sciences students taking clinical classes at Saginaw area hospitals, according to Steve Smith, CMU spokesman. Planners at CMU reportedly have been seeking a major hospital to center medical teaching and Saginaw has Covenant HealthCare, St. Mary's of Michigan, and the Aleda Lutz Veterans Administration Hospital that would fill the bill.

The proposed site for the medical school is on the Saginaw River north of Davenport Avenue and the Henry Marsh Bridge (I-675). The city dump was operated on much of the 60 acres until shut in 1960 and the land has been vacant for nearly half a century.

If the medical group fails to spend the $10 million by 2013, the site will revert to the city according to terms of the deal.



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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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