The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine announced plans on Tuesday to open a medical school at Seton Hill University that will include $4 million in renovations and equipment to train more than 100 physicians each year.
The venture is a partnership between the medical school, the university and Greensburg-based Excela Health, which will provide clinical training at its four hospitals for students in their last two years of school. Dr. Irving Freeman, a Pittsburgh native, will be vice president for LECOM at Seton Hill.
Conemaugh Health System in Cambria County also is affiliated with Lake Erie and will help train medical students at Seton Hill.
An additional $15 million in state funding for the medical school is in jeopardy because of a lack of progress in state budget negotiations, said Allen Kukovich, director of Gov. Ed Rendell's southwest regional office in Pittsburgh. The money is contained in the capital budget and is being "held hostage" until the Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly can agree on a budget, he said.
Lake Erie also has a campus in Bradenton, Fla., and trains pharmacy students. The only other medical school in the region is the University of Pittsburgh. The state's other osteopathic medical school is in Philadelphia.
Seton Hill President JoAnne Boyle called the agreement "a wonderful partnership."
Michele Ridge, wife of former Gov. Tom Ridge and chairwoman of the university's board of trustees, said Lake Erie's decision shows "a clear understanding of the need for expanding medical education in Southwestern Pennsylvania."
Michael Visnosky, chairman of the board of trustees at Lake Erie, said the idea for opening a branch in Greensburg came from Monsignor David Rubino, former assistant to Seton Hill President JoAnne Boyle. Rubino is senior vice provost at LECOM.
When Lake Erie began looking at sites for a new campus, it was Rubino who suggested Seton Hill would be a good fit, Visnosky said.
"That's how we got here. We pride ourselves in being innovative in medical education," Visnosky said.
Greensburg Mayor Karl Eisaman said negotiations between the two schools have been under way for a year, but the deal wasn't finalized until February or March. In April, Lake Erie received approval to expand from the Council on Osteopathic College Accreditation.
In their first two years, students will study at Lynch Hall and the Reeves Memorial Library at Seton Hill. They'll spend the last two years at Excela-run hospitals in Greensburg, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant and Jeannette.
Visnosky said there will be 104 medical students -- some with families -- attending Seton Hill next year, who will need housing. By its fourth year, the school will reach its full enrollment of 416. When the Lake Erie school opened in 1992, he said, an economic impact study found the school pumped $65 million annually into Erie County.
The school will employ 13 full-time faculty and four part-time instructors. Qualified students applying to Seton Hill will be able to take advantage of a program that allows them to be accepted simultaneously to the university and medical school and become doctors within seven years instead of the traditional eight years.
Dr. Ralph Capone, chief medical officer at Excela Health, and Kim Hollon, CEO of Excela Hospitals, said the presence of a medical school in central Westmoreland County will help the health care system recruit more physicians.
Capone said Excela needs 154 more physicians and has shortages in general surgery and internal and family medicine. By 2010, he said, the number of physicians in Pennsylvania is estimated to decline by 10,000, from 51,000 to 41,000.
Hollon said Excela has a family practice residency and that more than half of its graduates remain in western Pennsylvania to practice medicine.
"We have had success keeping our graduates over time," Hollon said. "Not in my wildest dreams would I think Seton Hill would have done this."
Eisaman said the economic impact on the Greensburg area remains to be seen.
"Obviously, if you bring in more than 100 people a year who are buying groceries, using electricity, then I think that will contribute a large factor to our community in central Westmoreland County," he said.
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