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.