Med campus still on table despite setbacks

A plan for a medical training center in Immokalee isn't dead, despite being shot down three times by the state.

Representatives from Florida State University's College of Medicine are expected to meet today with officials of the NCH Healthcare System to discuss how a long-planned medical school satellite training center in Immokalee can move forward after Gov. Jeb Bush's veto of $4 million in funding.

Last month Bush slashed FSU's request for capital dollars from the 2006 state budget to renovate the Isabel Collier Read Health Park building in Immokalee, which NCH has agreed to donate to the university for the endeavor. At the same time, the governor left intact $2.2 million that FSU asked for in operational dollars for the training clinic.

The governor's veto of capital funding marks the third year a row that requests for the state's help to get the project off the ground has failed and so medical school officials are looking at ways to move forward on their own.

"We always said if we had operational funding, we would have a program," said Dr. Ocie Harris, dean of FSU's medical school.

Harris said the goal from meeting with NCH officials is to see how the clinic can open its doors without the larger sum of money from the state.

"That is our plan, that is certainly our desire," he said. "We have to look to do this without those funds. We think we can with local funds. The nature of the product will be dictated by that since we can't do any renovations."

FSU and Immokalee leaders began talks three years ago about the farmworking community being ideal for a medical school training site because one of the medical school's missions is rural health. In turn, Immokalee would benefit by having more medical professionals in the community with the hope that some of the medical students, upon completion of their training, would return and open private practices in Immokalee.

From the start, NCH's commitment was key since the hospital system owns the Isabel Collier Read building that has largely been vacant for years and is regarded as the best location for the medical school satellite center. After negotiations over two years, NCH and the university this past January signed a letter of intent spelling out terms for NCH to donate the building to FSU.

The letter of intent expires July 1 and FSU wants to avoid the expiration or at least ask for an extension, Harris said.

Edward Morton, chief executive officer of NCH, said an extension is possible.

"That's up to the board of trustees and is certainly a reasonable request," he said, adding that hospital officials were disheartened by the governor's veto of the capital funding request. "Everybody is disappointed. We all envisioned this as a distinct asset to our community."

What poses a hardship is having housing available for the FSU faculty, envisioned as one individual from the medical school and a second from the College of Nursing, and for the students who would be doing training rotations, Harris said.

There's been some talk of housing options, where the faculty would commute to Immokalee from elsewhere in Collier County, but there hasn't been any detailed discussions, he said.

Local funding that is available, coupled with the potential for state matching grants, may make the project doable, Harris said.

To date, Isabel Collier Read, who donated the land and money for the building more than a decade ago, has pledged $750,000 for the project, the Immokalee community has raised money and the Collier County Commission has earmarked $250,000 in Immokalee Community Redevelopment Agency dollars.

"We want to get in the building as quickly as possible, get it in shape to begin having clinical activities in that building," Harris said. "Our goal is within a few months. I would be very disappointed if we don't have something there by January '07."

Bush's veto of capital funding for the Immokalee satellite site wasn't isolated. The governor vetoed capital funding for similar FSU training centers in Daytona Beach and Fort Pierce, which are planned in affiliation with community colleges, Harris said.