Tuesday, May 13, 2008

last updated: May 04, 2008 03:59:51 AM

I n 1988, after the University of California regents decided to build a 10th campus in their system, communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley launched a spirited competition over which would be chosen as the site for that campus.

Even after Merced's Lake Yosemite location was selected in 1995, some bitterness lingered for years, especially in Fresno, which figured it had the edge as the valley's largest city.

Fast forward to today: UC Merced is three years old and thriving, and communities throughout the valley are uniting behind an effort to create a medical school as part of the campus.

Bill Lyons Jr., part of the prominent Modesto ranching family and the former state secretary of food and agriculture, is co-chairman of a new coalition to promote the med school. The coalition co-chairwoman is Bryn Forhan of Fresno. That's symbolic of the regional nature of this push. It also crosses party lines. Lyons is a Democrat; Bill Mattos of Newman, a former Stanislaus County supervisor and active Republican, is heading the advocacy subcommittee.

In mid-May, the medical school proposal will go before regents. They will decide whether to allow the studies to continue. A green light is expected, though not guaranteed. It is essential.

But many obstacles will remain. Money comes to mind first, especially given the state's budget situation. But as Lyons points out, the development of a medical school is a marathon, not a sprint. The budget cutting shouldn't cut off long-term planning. Eventually, a medical school will need the support of the Legislature and millions from private sources.

As we've said before, many factors weigh in favor of a medical school for the valley. Among them:

California needs thousands more physicians, and the San Joaquin Valley has one of the lowest counts of doctors per population. Especially acute is the shortage of specialists. The valley has 51 percent per capita fewer specialists in practice than California as a whole.

An estimated $845 million is lost to the valley economy because patients have to go to the Bay Area or Southern California for advanced medical care.

Physicians tend to stay and practice in the areas in which they are trained and do their residencies.

The model proposed for UC Merced is less costly than building a huge teaching hospital. Medical students would take their first two years of classes on campus, then do their clinical training at hospitals around the valley. Some of the best physicians practicing in the valley could end up as their teachers. Teleconferencing and other technology make this a reasonable approach.

Many of the physicians trained at the medical school likely would come from the valley's diverse population. Young people growing up in the valley could see becoming a doctor as an attainable career goal.

Lyons said the push for a medical school in no way reflects on the quality of medicine available in the valley. We have good physicians -- just nowhere near enough of them.

The med school push also will include a fund-raising element. Money will be needed for educating the public and lobbying decision-makers, as well as for establishing research chairs and other expenses.

Lyons said he's impressed with the response so far, and the coalition is only a couple of months old.

UC Davis' medical school provides a lesson in the time this project could take. Its medical school was approved in 1962 and didn't graduate its first class for 10 years, and even then only after surmounting major obstacles.

Lyons offers other reasons for optimism: Valley communities aren't competing with each other on this endeavor; they're collaborating. The UC valley campus was a big dream that many figured never would materialize. It did. The medical school is another big dream -- but not beyond the reach with a collective effort.