Samaritan Health Services plans osteopathic college

Oregon’s first new medical school in more than a century could be built in Lebanon within three years.

Corvallis-based hospital operator Samaritan Health Services is teaming up with a California university and several other partners to create a health care education campus centered around an osteopathic medical college.

Plans also call for a conference and events center, a hotel and restaurant complex, a medical office building and additional buildings to house programs in other medical specialties such as nursing or physical therapy. The 51-acre campus would stand across U.S. Highway 20 from Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, with a pedestrian bridge linking the two.

“This is really going to be a transforming event for the valley,” said Larry Mullins, president and chief executive of Samaritan Health Services. Mullins said he expects construction to start by 2010, with the first class of medical students enrolling in 2011. The school would accept about 50 students a year to start with, ramping up to about 100 a year over time.

The new medical school will be affiliated with the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, a division of Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif.

“This is an opportunity here in Oregon to put in place elements which will, in a few short years, lead to the establishment of a multi-health professions satellite campus of Western University of Health Sciences,” Western President Philip Pumerantz said in a statement released Monday.

Western and Samaritan are putting together a task force to hammer out details of the arrangement, including construction cost estimates and financing. Mullins said Samaritan would consider land or building leases but would retain some sort of control over the Lebanon property, which it has owned for a number of years.

Samaritan and Western officials will unveil additional details of the health careers campus at a press conference next Tuesday in Lebanon.

The partnership builds on Samaritan’s existing relationship with Western University and the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. Last summer, a group of third-year COMP students began doing clinical rotations at Samaritan’s hospitals in Lebanon, Albany and Corvallis. Many of those students will be back next year, and the mid-valley health care network is working to set up medical residencies in 2009.

Many of the educational programs at the Lebanon campus would be developed with Western University, but other potential partners include Legacy Health System and Linn-Benton Community College, Mullins said.

Legacy operates five hospitals and a number of clinics in the Portland area and is involved in training medical students from Oregon Health & Science University.

LBCC already works with Samaritan in a number of health professions training programs, including a two-year nursing curriculum, and the community college has a classroom building adjacent to Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.

The goal of the health care campus would be to help meet surging demand for medical services, both nationally and locally.

Enrollment at U.S. medical schools has been flat for years, but the population is growing, and a large number of physicians are nearing retirement age. The Association of American Medical Colleges has called for a 30 percent enrollment increase by 2015.

“We really have to get a lot more people prepared to serve in the profession,” Mullins said. “What we’re trying to do is meet a reality we know is out there of an increasing demand.”

While the physician shortage is a national concern, expanding medical education in Oregon could help the state address its own needs. Studies have shown that doctors are more likely to practice in the state where they went to med school or did their residency or internship training.

Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, which dates its origins to 1867, is currently the only medical school in the state. While OHSU has been working to expand enrollment, the Legislature has been reluctant to provide funding.

Part of the appeal of building a medical school in the mid-valley, Mullins said, is the opportunity to expose future physicians to the area.

“If students come in and it’s a good experience, an enriching experience, the hope is that they’ll say, ‘Hey, this is the kind of place I want to start my practice,’” Mullins said. “We won’t be selling just Lebanon. We’re selling the mid-valley.”

David Walls, executive director of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of Oregon, welcomed the proposed Lebanon campus.

“I think it’s great,” Walls said. “With the shortage of physicians, especially in primary care, in the state of Oregon it’s important that we continue to provide opportunities for ongoing education of osteopathic physicians.”

Samaritan’s announcement comes on the heels of a similar project in Yakima, Wash., where the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences is preparing to begin operations. The institution has received provisional approval from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation and plans to enroll its first class of about 70 students in August.

It will be the first new medical school in the region since the University of Washington’s opened 60 years ago, said the new college’s dean, Dr. Bill Betz. But he predicts other Northwest states will soon follow suit.

“They’re all talking about setting up new medical schools to deal with the shortage,” Betz said.

What’s an osteopath?

Branch of medicine that emphasizes body unity

Osteopathy is a fast-growing branch of medicine that currently makes up about 6 percent of the total U.S physician population. The American Osteopathic Association estimates that more than 100,000 osteopaths will be practicing medicine by 2020.

Like allopathic physicians, or MDs, osteopathic physicians (also known as DOs) can diagnose and treat disease, prescribe medication and perform surgery, and they follow a similar course of professional education.

Both must pass the Medical College Admissions Test and complete four years of basic medical training followed by three to six years of internships and residencies. Also like MDs, DOs must pass a comprehensive examination and obtain a state license to practice medicine.

Osteopaths can practice the full range of medical specialties, such as surgery, obstetrics or psychiatry, although about two-thirds of DOs currently are involved in primary care.

Part of the osteopathic philosophy is a holistic approach to medicine that emphasizes the unity of all parts of the body, stressing preventive medicine and the importance of proper diet and exercise.

“They look at the body as a whole,” said David Walls, executive director of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of Oregon. “The form and structure are interrelated, and the body has an innate ability to heal itself.”

DOs focus particularly on the musculoskeletal system, and some practice physical manipulation as a means of both diagnosis and treatment. Osteopathic manipulative treatment, or OMT, can be used to address anything from back spasms to respiratory problems.

“It’s another skill set that osteopathic physicians have,” Walls said.

There are currently 571 active osteopathic physicians in Oregon, according to the state Board of Medical Examiners, compared with 9,491 MDs. Benton County has 17 osteopaths while Linn has four and Lincoln has 13.

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.