New Med Schools Need Cash

By ADAM EMERSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 10, 2007

TAMPA - When members of the state's university oversight board approved two new medical schools last year, they assured Florida's other medical colleges that their funding wouldn't suffer.

Now some worry that promise may fall short. Officials from the University of Central Florida and Florida International University told the Board of Governors on Thursday they need millions more than anticipated to properly run new, accredited medical schools.

The request has fostered bitter feelings among other colleges and board members who are sharing the ongoing pain of budget cuts. Why, they ask, should UCF and FIU reap millions more in tax dollars when they promised to aggressively raise private money for their medical schools?

UCF says it needs about $3.8 million more than the $9.4 million the board earlier agreed to seek from lawmakers for the 2008-09 budget year. FIU says it needs $3.7 million more than the $11.7 million the board said it would seek.

More Professors Mean More Money

Leaders from those colleges said they need the extra money mostly because their accrediting agency, the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, is requiring smaller groups of students in more clinical class settings.

That means the schools must hire more professors sooner than they thought, UCF President John Hitt said.

"We're going to have to meet those needs if we want to be accredited," Hitt told the Board of Governors at its Tampa meeting.

All told, both colleges said they would need a combined $65 million more than what the board approved through 2015.

That prompted an outcry among some on the Board of Governors. Zachariah P. Zachariah, a Broward County physician, demanded to know why the two universities can't meet their additional needs with fundraising.

"They said there were people waiting in the wings," Zachariah said.

Another board member, Lynn Pappas, a Jacksonville lawyer, said she worries how this would affect the state's medical schools at the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida. USF has long sought to admit more students to its College of Medicine.

"Look at the shrinking state budget," Pappas said. "By definition, it's going to have an impact on the other programs."

Hitt said private donors still are committed to UCF's fledgling medical school, but the need to hire more people is imminent. "New facts have come to our attention," Hitt said. "We gave you the best estimate we could, knowing what we knew."

Schools In Uphill Struggle

Controversy has followed both schools since debate began in late 2005. The board approved UCF's and FIU's request after dissent from some who said it was not the best way to meet Florida's need for physicians.

Zachariah was among those who argued that the state needed more spaces for medical residents, who perform more specialized training. Many think Florida's high malpractice premiums, which add to staggering student-loan debt, help drive many residents to other states, where they stay to practice medicine.

Board members tentatively agreed Thursday to ask the Legislature for $3.8 billion for all 11 public universities for the 2008-09 year, a 2 percent increase from last year. The number includes the medical schools' budget, but the board agreed to discuss UCF's and FIU's proposals further. The board plans to put its final stamp on the budget at its September meeting.

Until then, university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg will meet with the deans of the state's medical schools, and the presidents from those universities, to determine how best to run the medical programs efficiently.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or

aemerson@tampatrib.com.