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OhioHealth and Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine signed a definitive agreement Tuesday which recognizes the two as education partners for the college's new central Ohio extension campus in Dublin.

 

The agreement reflects a 35-year partnership between the medical network and the university in training physicians in Ohio.  

 

Dr. Jack Brose, dean of OU-HCOM, says this agreement will encourage more medical students to choose primary care as a specialty and stay in Ohio to practice — something that is necessary for the community.

 

"There are many health professions shortage areas in Ohio. There are 11 in central Ohio alone and there are thousands and thousands of patients who have difficulty accessing medical care because there just aren't enough physicians to do that," said Brose. "A big part of what we're trying to do here is develop primary care physicians: ones who are well-trained to work with allied health professionals who will go into practice and satisfy the healthcare needs of central Ohio."

 

Hospitals and facilities within the OhioHealth network include Doctors Hospitals, Riverside Methodist Hospital, Grant Medical Center, Grady Memorial Hospital, Dublin Methodist Hospital and Marion General.

 

Tuesday's announcement comes on the heels of the state controlling board approving the university's $11 million purchase of about 15 acres and two buildings for the school last week. Dublin city officials' also proposed last Monday to give Ohio University more than 70 acres to build around the medical college. City council will further discuss the proposal at their April 24 meeting.

 

Brose says the next step in the process is to have architects convert the buildings at the Dublin site into medical education facilities. The extension campus is one of several projects outlined in a $105 million gift from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations which OU-HCOM received a year ago.

 

The first class of medical students will begin at the Dublin campus in August of 2014.