WSU and UW held talks about Spokane medical school

SPOKANE — Officials from the University of Washington and Washington State University held meetings earlier this year to discuss a possible deal on “co-branding” a medical school in Spokane.

The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported Wednesday that a third meeting to seal an agreement was stymied when WSU officials hesitated.

The board of regents from Pullman-based WSU on Friday unanimously approved the administration’s controversial effort to start a new medical school in Spokane, citing the “dire need” for more doctors in the state. WSU’s plan is opposed by the UW in Seattle, which operates the state’s only publicly funded medical school.

Scott Morris, chairman and CEO of Avista Corp., a Spokane-based utility, represented Spokane’s interests in the negotiations, along with former Providence Health Care executive Mike Wilson. They wanted the two schools to strike a deal before each released reports bolstering their own plans for training more doctors in Spokane.

Morris says people can “become entrenched” around such reports.

WSU Regent Mike Worthy said he needed to delay the meetings with Morris, Wilson and UW leadership when it became apparent they were pushing for a contract when he had not yet informed his own board of the progress.

Worthy and WSU President Elson Floyd also said they wanted to publicize a feasibility report commissioned by WSU that they believe lays out a compelling case for WSU to have its own medical school.

“I felt no urgency to rush out and sign a deal,” Worthy said.

Floyd and Worthy say they anticipate further meetings with UW in hopes of reaching a deal to establish a WSU medical school to operate alongside UW’s existing five-state program, which offers medical training at WSU along with public universities in Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

The two meetings this summer, which also included UW President Michael Young and UW Regent Orin Smith, were disclosed during a Tuesday meeting of a UW task force considering changes to the current arrangement.

The task force will tell Young that UW should expand the number of WWAMI students in Spokane as fast as it can.

Worthy said he told the group in both of the private meetings this summer — one in July in Seattle, the other in August in Spokane — that WSU would seek accreditation for its own medical school. WSU regents approved that move in a meeting last week.

A WSU medical school is the logical next step from the significant investments the school has made in health sciences, he said.

State Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, who serves on the higher education committee and is vice chairman of the budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee, urged the schools to find a solution.

But he warned UW representatives, “there’s a great question about how interested UW is in Spokane.”

A pilot program to teach second-year med students in Spokane only drew nine UW students this year. There was funding for 20 students.

“That doesn’t impress a lot of folks,” Baumgartner said.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Traffic idles while waiting for the lights to change along 33rd Avenue West on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood seeks solutions to Costco traffic boondoggle

Let’s take a look at the troublesome intersection of 33rd Avenue W and 30th Place W, as Lynnwood weighs options for better traffic flow.

A memorial with small gifts surrounded a utility pole with a photograph of Ariel Garcia at the corner of Alpine Drive and Vesper Drive ion Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Death of Everett boy, 4, spurs questions over lack of Amber Alert

Local police and court authorities were reluctant to address some key questions, when asked by a Daily Herald reporter this week.

The new Amazon fulfillment center under construction along 172nd Street NE in Arlington, just south of Arlington Municipal Airport. (Chuck Taylor / The Herald) 20210708
Frito-Lay leases massive building at Marysville business park

The company will move next door to Tesla and occupy a 300,0000-square-foot building at the Marysville business park.

The oldest known meteor shower, Lyrid, will be falling across the skies in mid- to late April 2024. (Photo courtesy of Pixabay)
Clouds to dampen Lyrid meteor shower views in Western Washington

Forecasters expect a storm will obstruct peak viewing Sunday. Locals’ best chance at viewing could be on the coast. Or east.

Everett police officers on the scene of a single-vehicle collision on Evergreen Way and Olivia Park Road Wednesday, July 5, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Photo provided by Everett Police Department)
Everett man gets 3 years for driving high on fentanyl, killing passenger

In July, Hunter Gidney crashed into a traffic pole on Evergreen Way. A passenger, Drew Hallam, died at the scene.

FILE - Then-Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., speaks on Nov. 6, 2018, at a Republican party election night gathering in Issaquah, Wash. Reichert filed campaign paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission on Friday, June 30, 2023, to run as a Republican candidate. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
6 storylines to watch with Washington GOP convention this weekend

Purist or pragmatist? That may be the biggest question as Republicans decide who to endorse in the upcoming elections.

Keyshawn Whitehorse moves with the bull Tijuana Two-Step to stay on during PBR Everett at Angel of the Winds Arena on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
PBR bull riders kick up dirt in Everett Stampede headliner

Angel of the Winds Arena played host to the first night of the PBR’s two-day competition in Everett, part of a new weeklong event.

Simreet Dhaliwal speaks after winning during the 2024 Snohomish County Emerging Leaders Awards Presentation on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Simreet Dhaliwal wins The Herald’s 2024 Emerging Leaders Award

Dhaliwal, an economic development and tourism specialist, was one of 12 finalists for the award celebrating young leaders in Snohomish County.

In this Jan. 12, 2018 photo, Ben Garrison, of Puyallup, Wash., wears his Kel-Tec RDB gun, and several magazines of ammunition, during a gun rights rally at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
With gun reform law in limbo, Edmonds rep is ‘confident’ it will prevail

Despite a two-hour legal period last week, the high-capacity ammunition magazine ban remains in place.

Everett Fire Department and Everett Police on scene of a multiple vehicle collision with injuries in the 1400 block of 41st Street. (Photo provided by Everett Fire Department)
1 in critical condition after crash with box truck, semi in Everett

Police closed 41st Street between Rucker and Colby avenues on Wednesday afternoon, right before rush hour.

The Arlington Public Schools Administration Building is pictured on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Arlington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
$2.5M deficit in Arlington schools could mean dozens of cut positions

The state funding model and inflation have led to Arlington’s money problems, school finance director Gina Zeutenhorst said Tuesday.

Lily Gladstone poses at the premiere of the Hulu miniseries "Under the Bridge" at the DGA Theatre, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Mountlake Terrace’s Lily Gladstone plays cop in Hulu’s ‘Under the Bridge’

The true-crime drama started streaming Wednesday. It’s Gladstone’s first part since her star turn in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.