The Georgia Board of Regents has voted to accept a plan for expansion of the Medical College of Georgia.
It’s an effort to increase the number of doctors in Georgia…avoiding a critical shortage of them in the state, but it’s controversial.
The vote is not an approval of the plan. The Regents have simply chosen to review it. But it’s a clear signal that the Regents are supporting it.
Consultants developed their recommendations on expansion after a three month study.
The report calls for a significant expansion at the main campus in Augusta. It calls for a satellite campus in Athens. The number of clinical rotations in Albany and Savannah would also increase.
Lawmakers in Augusta want the expansion to happen at the main campus first. But Dr. Dan Rahn, MCG’s president, says he supports the plan.
"The physician workforce issues are statewide issues. The best opportunity to recruit physicians as future members of a medical community is to educate them within that medical community so we think we have a better chance of providing physicians around the state if we can educate them around the state," said Rahn.Whatever the Regents decide, the fate of MCG’s expansion is ultimately in the hands of lawmakers, who must approve funding for any expansion.
