Medical School in Jacksonville?

[fieldafm]

To bad we let that FSU medical school ride off in the sunset to Daytona Beach a couple of years ago.

I think that had A LOT to do with UF, from what I have been told.  My mom is well-regarded in this field, which gives me the unique opportunity to speak with certain parties in the medical field.  It is something I question constantly.  As such, I don't get invited to dinners as much as I used to, lol.

Stephen is right.  There is a focused push going on in this community to make this happen.  Citylife is right that it is an uphill climb, but nothing that is truly worthwhile is ever easy.   

[CityLife]

To bad we let that FSU medical school ride off in the sunset to Daytona Beach a couple of years ago.

Wasn't that a result of Mayo turning FSU down? A strong FSU/Mayo partnership with an even stronger UF/Shands would have bred quite a bit of competition and been good for the city.

If this group really just wants UF to expand its services in Jax it will use the threat of bringing FSU med to town.

I know that a few years ago FSU med was not happy in Tallahassee and wanted a strong presence in a larger population center.

[thelakelander]

03/03/2006

FSU med school not promising

by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer

Florida State University’s medical school wants Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic to host a local campus, but a clinic representative gives the idea a negative prognosis.

The FSU College of Medicine wants to include Jacksonville in its growing network of satellite campuses, but says it has so far received a chilly reception from the local medical community. FSU spokesperson Doug Carlson said in a briefing paper that numerous meetings with area hospitals including Mayo have failed to produce anything beyond internship opportunities.

“We have not sensed that the medical community in Jacksonville has been eager to partner with us in training our students,” said Carlson in the memo.

FSU appealed to Jacksonville’s mayor’s office to help spur talks with local hospitals. The Mayo Clinic responded by touting its own medical school.

Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic serves as one of three national campuses for the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Last year, Mayo Jacksonville taught 17 of its own medical students and 20 visiting fourth-year medical students.

Mayo Jacksonville has hosted students from all of Florida’s medical schools, including FSU, said Layne Smith, director of government relations for Mayo Clinic Florida and St. Luke’s Hospital. Mayo offers in-state tuition to Florida students.

Mayo trains some fourth-year medical students from FSU. But, Smith said hosting a satellite campus would be impractical. The schools’ programs are too different, he said.

“FSU’s focus is really on family practice and on the rural, underserved folks,” said Smith. “The Mayo Clinic’s focus is primarily on the high-end stuff. For instance, we have the largest liver transplant program in the country.”

Blending the programs could cause problems for Mayo’s accreditation, said Smith.

The slow progress in Jacksonville has sent FSU looking for alternative sites. The medical school plans to open campuses in Immokalee in southwest Florida and Daytona Beach.

FSU’s medical school has regional campuses in Pensacola, Sarasota, Orlando and Tallahassee. Students receive field experience by rotating among the satellites, which each have an annual budget of about $2 million.

Daytona and Immokalee welcomed FSU. NCH Healthcare System in Naples plans to transfer to FSU a 28,000 square-foot medical center in Immokalee. The Daytona campus has been endorsed by the Halifax Medical Center, Daytona Beach Community College and Indian River Community College.

Those expansions touched off local concerns that Jacksonville might be replaced in FSU’s plans by Daytona, but Carlson said that’s not the case. FSU still has strong interest in a Jacksonville campus, he said.

The mayor’s office wants an FSU campus in Jacksonville, said spokesperson Misty Skipper. She said FSU would continue to get City Hall help in exploring local partnerships.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=44660

[tufsu1]

I doubt the FSU/Mayo model would have been much different than the existing UF/Shands model...FSU students still take early classes on campus.

[CS Foltz]

Yeah............excluding his stance on "Ethics" which I happen to disagree with and received no reply via his website..........I have one..........why are they not joining up with the VA for a multipurpose facility? I understand a lack of private funding, but they have not pursued Federal Funding for something oriented towards veterans? Seems to me to be a win win situation not only for the local economy, but active duty and retired?

[Rick Mullaney]

This is an important conversation for the City of Jacksonville. Last year, posted here on Metro Jacksonville, I wrote a letter to Kelly Madden with the Chamber on the Kansas City Chamber trip (2009 trip) and discussed the importance of the healthcare industry in Jacksonville. In the letter, and since, I have said that, in the long run, the healthcare industry should not just be a targeted industry for Jacksonville, it should be a defining industry. We have an extraordinary inventory of healthcare assests. With the Mayo Clinic (only three in the country), UF Proton Beam (few in the nation), Nemours, Shands Jacksonville, great area hospitals (Baptist, Memorial, St. Vincent's), Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital, and the proximity of the largest research university in the southeast in the University of Florida, we truly have extraodinary healthcare assets. The healthcare industry is the number one employer in North Florida. And, importantly, is it high wage per capita and, unlike other sectors of this economy, will grow in the future.

One of the missing pieces, however, which I have discussed at length over the last year, is a medical school. This is important for our long term future. We are the only only metropolitan area in the State of Florida without a medical school. We are, to my knowledge, the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a medical school. There are many ways to approach this issue, including our very important relationship with the University of Florida and the great teaching hospital and UF presence at Shands. Other approaches may also be considered. Regardless, we have the potential for Jacksonville to be known statewide, regionally, and nationally for our healthcare industry. A medical school is an important part of that long term vision.

[fieldafm]

First off, thank you for joining the discussion Mr Mullaney.

Just to point out...

UF Proton Beam (few in the nation)

First Coast Oncology here in town will also soon be online with proton beam therapy as well.  They are using a different type of proton machine than what Shands uses.

Anyway,
What specific ways/facilities does the city have or can be made available to entice UF or Mayo to expand their medical school facilities?

Also, what headway is being made on a VA hospital in town?

How are you looking to attract more medical research(big money) projects to Jacksonville?  Are you looking to create special economic zones that would make such opportunities economically viable to relocate/establish in Jax?

What about plans for existing or new small business relating to the healthcare industry, specifically research-related types of business?

[CS Foltz]

I am concerned about, just like you are Rick, about the lack of a VA Facility and a full blown school for this region. Not only is active duty and dependents care somewhat limited, but with the numbers of retired former members in this area, why has there not been a collective effort to do something? By collective, I am refering to private/federal effort to address this issue? It would seem to me with, just the shear numbers in this area, Gainsville, is a bit far to go for simple medical care and a teaching/care facility in this area should be a logical tie in between UF/Mayo and a school! I did read your letter,concerning the Kansas City visit, and see parallels between that region and ours. What effort, if any, is ongoing at this time? Jacksonville is in a unique area and situation and I would like to see how we may advance or expand this possibility!

[stjr]

I think the best idea for a full blown medical school in Jax may be one in which Mayo is enticed to go the whole nine yards here.  They are already in Jax, do research, have a hospital, own the land, are bringing in students from Rochester, and have an instant reputation.  How much more would it take for them to make a leap to a full medical school in Jax?  Once established, maybe the existing state medical schools would be more willing to create additional partnerships to further enhance the possibilities.

Here is another thought:  Does the U.S. Military have a captive medical school, say, focused on the injuries and medical issues associated with war?  Or, do they outsource all such research?  Maybe Cecil Field could be a location for such an institution.  Such a school could be partnered with a substantial VA hospital in Jax.

Another option would be to attract a well known foreign medical school/research facility to build a U.S. campus in Jax.  Such as the Pasteur Institute:

The Pasteur Institute (French: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who made some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine at the time, including pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies virus. The institute was founded on June 4, 1887 and inaugurated on November 14, 1888.

For over a century, the Institut Pasteur has been at the forefront of the battle against infectious disease. This worldwide biomedical research organization based in Paris was the first to isolate HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in 1983. Over the years, it has been responsible for breakthrough discoveries that have enabled medical science to control such virulent diseases as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, influenza, yellow fever and plague. Since 1908, eight Pasteur Institute scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology, and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared with two Pasteur scientists.

Today, the Institut Pasteur is one of the world's leading research centers; it houses 100 research units and close to 2,700 people, including 500 permanent scientists  and another 600 scientists visiting from 70 countries annually. The Institut Pasteur is also a global network of 24 foreign institutes devoted to medical problems in developing countries; a graduate study center and an epidemiological screening unit.

The international network is present in the following cities and countries:

    * Algiers, Algeria
    * Bangui, Central African Republic
    * Brussels, Belgium
    * São Paulo, Brazil
    * Phnom Penh, Cambodia
    * Dakar, Senegal

Institut Pasteur de Lille

    * Lille, France
    * Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
    * Cayenne, French Guyana
    * Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang and Hanoi, Vietnam
    * Tehran, Iran: (Pasteur Institute of Iran)
    * Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
    * Tananarive, Madagascar
    * Casablanca, Morocco
    * Nouméa, New Caledonia
    * St Petersburg, Russia
    * Tunis, Tunisia
    * Athens, Greece
    * Montevideo, Uruguay
    * Bucharest, Romania
    * Niamey, Niger
    * Yaoundé, Cameroon
    * Seoul, South Korea
    * IPS Shanghai, China
    * Pasteur Foundation New York, USA
    * Canadian Pasteur Foundation, Montreal, Canada
    * Hong Kong University - Pasteur Research Centre Hong Kong, China
    * Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor, India [2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteur_Institute

By the way, any medical school plans should include ways to leverage the school into spawning locally based biomedical companies that leverage its resources and research.

[Ocklawaha]

Here is another thought:  Does the U.S. Military have a captive medical school, say, focused on the injuries and medical issues associated with war?  Or, do they outsource all such research?  Maybe Cecil Field could be a location for such an institution.  Such a school could be partnered with a substantial VA hospital in Jax.

Yup! Walter Reed US Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital are both cutting edge research hospitals that regularly take care of our US presidents.

OCKLAWAHA

[CS Foltz]

Ock..........you forgot about the Senators and Rep's also!

[JeffreyS]

I think the best idea for a full blown medical school in Jax may be one in which Mayo is enticed to go the whole nine yards here.  They are already in Jax, do research, have a hospital, own the land, are bringing in students from Rochester, and have an instant reputation.  How much more would it take for them to make a leap to a full medical school in Jax?  Once established, maybe the existing state medical schools would be more willing to create additional partnerships to further enhance the possibilities.

I have no idea if they would be interested but this is a great great idea.  In terms of rep it would be day one in the group of seriously prestigious schools in the field and a real feather in the cap for Jax..

[CityLife]

This is an important conversation for the City of Jacksonville. Last year, posted here on Metro Jacksonville, I wrote a letter to Kelly Madden with the Chamber on the Kansas City Chamber trip (2009 trip) and discussed the importance of the healthcare industry in Jacksonville. In the letter, and since, I have said that, in the long run, the healthcare industry should not just be a targeted industry for Jacksonville, it should be a defining industry. We have an extraordinary inventory of healthcare assests. With the Mayo Clinic (only three in the country), UF Proton Beam (few in the nation), Nemours, Shands Jacksonville, great area hospitals (Baptist, Memorial, St. Vincent's), Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital, and the proximity of the largest research university in the southeast in the University of Florida, we truly have extraodinary healthcare assets. The healthcare industry is the number one employer in North Florida. And, importantly, is it high wage per capita and, unlike other sectors of this economy, will grow in the future.

One of the missing pieces, however, which I have discussed at length over the last year, is a medical school. This is important for our long term future. We are the only only metropolitan area in the State of Florida without a medical school. We are, to my knowledge, the largest metropolitan area in the nation without a medical school. There are many ways to approach this issue, including our very important relationship with the University of Florida and the great teaching hospital and UF presence at Shands. Other approaches may also be considered. Regardless, we have the potential for Jacksonville to be known statewide, regionally, and nationally for our healthcare industry. A medical school is an important part of that long term vision.

Thanks for taking time to share your vision.

I agree that we have some excellent health care assets, however it is probably a little too late for Jacksonville to be known statewide, regionally, and nationally for our healthcare industry. Mickey Mouse already beat us to the punch there.

Orlando has a new Medical City at Lake Nona that is pretty darn impressive. At the medical city is the Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute, UCF's new College of Medicine and College of Biomedical Science, Nemours Childrens Hospital, Orlando's New VA Medical Center. UF is also building a 115,000 square foot research center at the medical city that will focus on pharmacy and biomedical research.

With the amount of investment that the state has made in Orlando, it is unlikely that Florida will duplicate a new medical school or research complex a few hours up the road in Jacksonville. It is also likely that any new medical research institutes looking to come to the state will choose to locate to the Lake Nona complex due to the synergy there. Or in Martin/West Palm Beach Counties. The Scripps Research Institute just opened in Jupiter and Torrey Pines in Port St. Lucie, both of which opened due to large state incentives. Both of those are major national medical research institutions.

In theory, I think the idea of improving our medical community is great, but as usual Jacksonville is 5-10 years behind the state. Hopefully we can get UF/Shands or Mayo to expand their mission in Jacksonville, because the idea of a new med school seems like a long shot.

Best of luck to you Mr. Mullaney

[stjr]

Yup! Walter Reed US Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital are both cutting edge research hospitals that regularly take care of our US presidents.

Yes, Ock, these are great hospitals.  But, are they medical schools?  How much research do they do or do they act as vehicles to outsource it to other institutions?  Even as what they are, maybe its time they opened a "warm weather" branch here like Mayo did.    Just think of all the military facilities in the Southeastern U.S.

P.S. I realize the Jax NAS already has a hospital.  But, we are talking here about a national facility doing research and teaching, on a whole different plane from a regular hospital.

[fieldafm]

P.S. I realize the Jax NAS already has a hospital.  But, we are talking here about a national facility doing research and teaching, on a whole different plane from a regular hospital

Hospital??

NAS has a meat market on base