Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) – the region’s chamber of commerce and economic development council – held its annual meeting this week with the theme focusing on how education grows economies.
As one of several universities with a presence in Spokane, we were represented in the video above, which was seen by more than 1,000 in attendance at GSI’s annual meeting. Here are five ways our campus grows our economy:
Today the WSU Board of Regents officially changed the name of the WSU College of Medical Sciences to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
It also announced the hiring of Dr. John Tomkowiak as the college’s inaugural dean.
Before we can apply for medical school accreditation, and before we can begin recruiting medical students, we must hire a dean for the soon-to-be-named WSU College of Medicine.
In May, we announced the search committee tasked with finding the first dean of the WSU College of Medicine.
That committee’s work should be complete within the next few weeks.
The Seattle Times had a story this past weekend featuring the increase of first- and second-year medical school seats on the east side of Washington.
A WSU medical school in Spokane will allow for more of our state’s students to access medical education. It will also grow the amount of physicians practicing in our region.
Another benefit that comes from a second public medical school is its impact on the area economy.
Our Health Sciences Update programs air locally on Comcast channel 17 and feature a wide array of health sciences representatives from our campus and elsewhere.
These three recent episodes will soon start airing on channel 17:
L-R: WSU Spokane Chancellor Lisa Brown, Ed Schweitzer, Beatriz Schweitzer
The Dr. Elson S. Floyd Medical Education Founders Fund was created to honor our late president and recognize his work to bring a medical school to WSU and Spokane.
Last week, the fund got a major boost when Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) in Pullman donated $100,000 to the fund. Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, the founder and president of SEL, then matched that donation on behalf of his family.
Now that Governor Inslee has approved the state’s operating budget – which included $2.5 million to start a WSU medical school in Spokane – what do we do now?
Glad you asked. The above video features Dr. Ken Roberts, the Acting Dean of the WSU College of Medical Sciences, discussing the next steps in our medical school pursuit.
Among the important steps are applying for preliminary accreditation.
Note: The video was filmed prior to the approval of the state’s operating budget.
Just in time before the end of the state’s fiscal year, the Washington Legislature approved a state operating budget that includes funding to start a WSU medical school in Spokane.
We asked for and received $2.5 million in funding to start our community-based medical school, headquartered on our health sciences campus here in Spokane.
President Elson S. Floyd, March 1, 1956 – June 20, 2015
Elson Floyd’s fingerprints are all over our campus.
The WSU president saw the opportunity that WSU had in Spokane – a large medical sector, a beautiful University District – and designated WSU Spokane as the University’s health sciences campus.
This spring, Floyd helped convince lawmakers from both sides of the state to allow WSU to operate its own medical school. The impacts of that work will live on for many years to come as the WSU medical school grows.