Allina, St. Thomas abandon medical school idea

It came down to money, they said. Noting that there is a need for a school committed to training primary-care doctors, they didn't rule out pursuing the idea sometime again.

By Chen May Yee, Star Tribune

Last update: October 25, 2007 - 9:25 PM

Proponents of a new Twin Cities medical school said Thursday they have dropped the idea because it would cost too much.

The University of St. Thomas and Allina Hospitals and Clinics said a medical school would detract from more pressing priorities and strain existing resources.

The St. Thomas board voted unanimously Thursday not to go forward in building what would have been the state's third medical school, an idea first made public in May. The Allina board had voted the same way Monday, also unanimously.

Neither group would reveal the dollar figure produced in a feasibility study. Nor did they rule out revisiting the idea in the future.

"If we ever resolved the financial resources question, we would come back to this," said Tom Rochon, executive vice president and chief academic officer at St. Thomas.

Allina is the biggest hospital group in the Twin Cities area. St. Thomas is the state's largest private university, with a large graduate business school and a law school. They had envisioned a medical school of about 40 students per class year committed to primary care, which comprises family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics.

The goal was to help address a looming shortage in primary care physicians, who are commonly viewed as overworked and underpaid in comparison with specialists.

Other funding priorities

After an initial announcement in May, the groups enlisted a consulting company, Tripp Umbach, to assess the need for such a school and how much it would cost to build and run. This week, the boards of both organizations decided that cost was too high.

It didn't help that Allina and St. Thomas had either recently invested or were about to make substantial investments in other areas.

St. Thomas this week kicked off a $500 million fund drive, with the money going to athletic and recreation facilities, a new School of Arts and endowed faculty positions, among other things. As for Allina, it just sank $250 million into an electronic system for patient records.

"We were somewhat disappointed because clearly the need was demonstrated," said Dr. Penny Wheeler, Allina's chief clinical officer. "Now we have to live up to the moral obligation we have to patients and the community."

Allina said it hopes to expand residency spots at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in internal medicine and at United Hospital in family medicine.

Redirecting resources

St. Thomas, in turn, said it plans on asking the National Institute of Health Policy, which is already based at St. Thomas, to focus on primary care. The think tank is headed by former U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger. It was not involved in the feasibility study for a medical school.

National and local experts who had weighed in on the debate had warned it would be difficult to pull together a teaching faculty. They also wondered aloud if St. Thomas' Catholic values might clash with the sexual health and reproductive aspects of primary care education. Both issues were discussed at length, Allina and St. Thomas officials said, and neither amounted to a significant hurdle.

Allina doctors were polled on whether they would be willing to take on more teaching duties. "Thirty-five to 40 percent of those who answered the survey said they would, and we were quite confident we would have a sufficient number," Rochon said.

They also studied sexual and reproductive health practices at the five Catholic medical schools around the country. "Had we resolved the financial issue, very respectfully, we would have resolved the issue around beliefs," he said.

Chen May Yee • 612-673-7434

Chen May Yee • mychen@startribune.com

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