Touro breaks ground on proposed Great Falls medical school
Touro College Montana held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Oct. 6 at the site of their proposed osteopathic medical school on a site near Benefis Health System.
The school is not yet approved, but is working through the accreditation process with the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, according to Dr. Elizabeth Palmarozzi, who has been hired as the founding dean of the Great Falls campus.
Groundbreaking set for new medical school in Great Falls
The COCA considered Touro’s application for the project during their August meeting. COCA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and serves the public by establishing, maintaining and applying accreditation standards and procedure to ensure that academic quality and continuous quality improvement delivered by the colleges of osteopathic medicine reflect the evolving practice of osteopathic medicine.
Benefis has been working with Touro since the beginning of the year and made progress with the school receiving approval in mid-February from the Montana University System to offer post-secondary degrees in Montana, according to letter of approval from Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian.
Touro will also be partnering with the McLaughlin Research Institute in Great Falls.
Palmarozzi said that the plan is to open the school in 2023 and students would spent their first two years on campus and their third and fourth years in clinical rotations. Some would be at Benefis and others at hospitals acmcglross Montana and the region, she said.
Palmarozzi is originally from Texas and has been serving the founding dean of a medical school at Auburn University in Alabama.
She’s in the process of moving to Great Falls, where she’ll spearhead the startup of the proposed school.
Palmarozzi said she was drawn to the mission to focus on rural medicine and training physicians for underserved populations.
Dr. Ken Steier is the executive dean and chief academic officer for the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, which includes the schools existing campuses.
Influx of medical school students could overwhelm Montana resources, program leaders warn
He said that Montana is one of four states without a medical school and said the state could support two medical schools. Rocky Vista University broke ground on a proposed medical school in Billings this week.
Steier said they have to ensure enough clinical training sites for students in their third and fourth years but that Touro already had 200 sites for the 125 students planned for the first class in the fall of 2023.
Steier said that about 75 percent of physicians practice in the area where they went to medical school and completed their clinical rotations, so having a school in Montana would be beneficial to help address the physician shortage in the state.
“You have to grow your own,” Steier said.
Benefis working to bring medical school to Great Falls
“Montana and surrounding region are facing a healthcare crisis, with eleven of the state’s 56 total counties lacking a practicing physician and 52 counties identified as areas with health profession shortages. Establishing a new medical school campus in the state will significantly address this great need as studies show that 39 percent of physicians practice in the state where they completed medical school,” according to Touro.
Steier said that most of the students are about 25 years old and single, but some are older or have families.
Benefis has been working with Touro since the beginning of the year and made progress with the school receiving approval in mid-February from the Montana University System to offer post-secondary degrees in Montana, according to letter of approval from Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian.
The project is planned for property owned by Benefis near the intersection of 26th Street South and 18th Avenue South. It’s an 19-acre parcel just north of Central Catholic High School and in addition to the 10,000 square-foot school facility, there will be space remaining to build apartments for the students to the east of the medical school, according to a July report to the city from Benefis CEO John Goodnow.
LPW Architecture is the firm designing the school facility and Sletten Construction is the general contractor.
City planning officials have had numerous conversations with the college officials on the project but have not yet received a formal permit applications.
Steier said the medical school could have a significant economic impact on the Great Falls community with the influx of students and faculty. He said the students in their programs are typically civic minded and participate in community service projects at their other campuses.
Dr. Alan Kadish is the president of the Touro College and University System, which is the largest Jewish-sponsored educational institution in the U.S.
Kadish said that his son-in-law’s grandfather moved to Great Falls about 70 years ago and the family has property in the area. He said that he spent two summers in town helping fix up that family home before he was connected with Goodnow.
It was “very serendipitous,” he said.
