Bristol City Council Questions King College President On Proposed Medical School
BY ROGER BROWN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Polite but skeptical was the reaction offered Tuesday by City Council members to King College’s proposal to build a $150 million medical school by 2012.
Ignoring a power outage that left the meeting room dark for more than 20 minutes, Mayor Joel Staton, Councilwoman Margaret Feierabend and Councilman David Shumaker peppered King College President Greg Jordan with questions about the proposed medical school, which would have campuses in Bristol and Kingsport.
“We’ve got to start asking some really hard questions about this (proposal),” Feierabend said.
Both Feierabend and Shumaker expressed concern that the college might not attract the high numbers of students, medical personnel, research opportunities and economic dollars that King officials suggested.
And they wondered whether a medical school at King might simply end up having a negative effect on the Quillen College of Medicine, operated by East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn.
“What we don’t want is two medical schools that are struggling [to recruit students and personnel],” Feierabend said.
But Jordan expressed confidence that the project would:
* Generate an economic impact of $60 million to $100 million by 2015, a mere three years after the school’s opening;
* Create a valuable “medical corridor’ that would stretch from Southwest Virginia to Chattanooga, with the Tri-Cities serving as the hub.
* Produce a huge number of graduates who could practice in numerous medical specialties – and help fill a growing shortage of doctors in many sections across the Southeast.
“We think this is feasible,” Jordan said.
He noted that the plan has already drawn local support from two major medical organizations – Wellmont Health System and Holston Medical Group – and that Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee have expressed preliminary interest in working with a future King medical school.
“You should not assume there’s not significant support for this plan,” Jordan said.
He asked council members to consider a resolution publicly supporting the medical-school plan – and to also give serious thought to backing it financially.
Council members took no action, saying they want to talk to those at the Quillen College of Medicine about how the King project would affect their school.
In May, presentations to Kingsport and Sullivan County leaders generally drew praise for the project.
The plan calls for the $150 million cost to be split evenly among the state of Tennessee, private donations and money from Bristol, Kingsport and Sullivan County.
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Reader Reactions
Sorry to hear about your loss my prayers are with you and your family. How do you know that this will be covered here? or the next type of tragedy? back to the restaurant analogy how do we know that the restaurant that we build will serve hamburgers or schnitzels we don’t and can not cover every situation. Why not use the service we already have at etsu? It’s in place how much more would be saved using it? As a tax payer I would rather have it spent on something the tax payer has at least a say on paper on how that money is used and directed year by year. I simply do not think my tax money is well spent (and remember this is also coming from our state money) on something we currently do less than 20 miles up the road and could expand for maybe half the price. If you could buy the same car for half the price would you not do it? We must be more careful with our tax money it is not free.
In July of last year, I lost my mother to heart disease. She spent the last 5 years of her life traveling back and forth between Bristol & Charlottesville, VA because the local physicians referred her to this teaching facility because they were more aggressive in providing her treatments that were not offered here. I wonder how much more time she would have been able to spend living instead of traveling? Yes, it will cost us, the taxpayer additional money, but it is money WELL SPENT. Keep in mind the alumni of this fine school as well as funding from medical entities and private grants will also assist to create this facility. As a taxpayer, what would you rather see you money spent on? Something that will be a PERMANANT asset to our community bringing growth & revenue, or would you just rather send our ailing & tax dollars elsewhere?
No moves to Kingsport or Bristol
population of Kingsport growth from 2000 to 2007 -1.6% Bristol .03 Johnson City 8.2%. We keep doing the same things hoping for a different outcome and it is not happening. This is more of the same. Tax payers money going for other tax paying service already provided in the area. As tax payers will we be able to audit the school? If it fails can we sell it off to get our money back? No this is a private school.
There aren’t any tax breaks and won’t be (excluding the top 1% afforded by W. Bush) as long as you live on the face of the earth. I’d rather have my tax dollars going to something that could possibly generate a reward for the community and/or group at large. As a Bristol City resident, I am very much aware of the benefits generated by the Bristol Motor Speedway and the thousands of visitors that come each year. So, was the recent road construction/improvement in front of BMS poor decision making on behalf of the city? There are reasons as to why people move and/or relocate to certain areas. A city is only as unique as possessing characteristics (King College and BMS) that differentiate it from other cities and those cities should invest/promote those unique characteristics. Educational investment (public or private) is always a good thing and besides, ETSU is not going to upgrade anything; especially since they’ve wasted money ($750K) to put up that stupid bell tower. LaWanda
You assume I approve tax breaks for restaurants etc, I do not. Plus restaurants are not competing with my tax dollars as this private school will be with E.T.S.U. My tax money should not go to build a private school nor should it go to build a restaurant. If we can not give everyone the lowest tax possible then we should not give breaks. Where are the breaks for the tax payer ever?
Posted by ( sinergy ) on June 17, 2009 at 8:55 am “Remember this is going to cost local tax payer 50min and another 50mil from the rest of state tax payers. 100mil total from us local payers in total taxes.“ I’m sure if it is needed so bad they should upgrade what E.T.S.U already has for a small percent of the money and save us property tax hikes.
I’m sure “good” is intended with this comment, never-the-less, Would we feel the same if another restaurant wanted to build here with tax breaks? These venues also increase the tax burden on the citizenry.
This is a great opportunity for the city council to do something good for Bristol, Tenn.
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It is not “free and capitalist” When 3/4 of the money is funded by tax payers
Ms. Margaret Feierabend is probably concerned with matters of ETSU because of Raymond Feierabend, Professor w/ ETSU Family Medicine of Bristol (relative). If this is the case, then this poses a conflict of interest and Margaret really should excuse herself from any further discussion and/or decision making regarding this matter. I question the radius of courtesy that should be extended to other cities in the area. How far do we go? If King College wanted to initiate a school of architecture…do we not because a similar school exists at UT Knoxville? Will we always run into automatic bias if by chance one of the City Council members is an Alumnus of a particular college? I believe that a component of a free and capitalist society is healthy competition to benefit individuals and communities? What better way to keep organizations in check than knowing there’s competition a few miles down the road? A prime example would be Mountain States Health Alliance and their ongoing struggle to keep Wellmont out of the Johnson City area. In closing, this is not a new situation of argument. There will always be those who are concerned with their own self interests rather than those interests that would benefit the larger group and/or community. LaWanda
King College has a great undergraduate program but their MBA program is/was inferior. I have hired a few from the MBA program and the folks are not what I would expect from King. However, most of the folks that I have dealt with from the undergrad programs are very good and make great employees. With all that said, the council has every right to question the school and its plans. If after careful study, the idea is truly feasible, then let them proceed with their plans and put the full force of the community behind them. There is truly a great need in this rural area for doctors. The two schools, Quillen/ETSU and King could work together to bring the best healthcare in the world to some of the most neediest areas of this country.
Remember this is going to cost local tax payer 50min and another 50mil from the rest of state tax payers. 100mil total from us local payers in total taxes. I’m sure if it is needed so bad they should upgrade what E.T.S.U already has for a small percent of the money and save us property tax hikes.
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