Could Wisconsin gain a third medical school? Although it hasn't gained adequate funding, some individuals believe a third school may help reduce the state's predicted physician shortage, reports the Wisconsin State Journal.
The Jefferson-based, $125 million Wisconsin College of Osteopathic Medicine is supposed to open by 2018 or 2019, according to Mark Lefebvre, one of the school's organizers and the former vice president for health and life sciences at the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
But earlier this year, the Wisconsin Legislature failed to pass a bill that would have given the school a $25 million construction grant. Mr. Lefebvre said the bill will be reintroduced next session. "We're continuing to have great interest and considerable momentum," said Mr. Lefebvre.
Officials from the state's two other medical schools — Madison-based University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Milwaukee-based Medical College of Wisconsin — are opposed to the construction of a new school. They claim their students fill the physician shortage and that there already aren't enough residencies in the state, according to the article.