Medical school proponents detail business benefits
Among those reasons was one in particular that would have a more significant impact not only on patients but on business owners and leaders.
“There are significant economic benefits to M.D. programs,” said Barbara Walsh, a managing director with life sciences at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, on Nov. 20 at the board meeting. PricewaterhouseCoopers prepared a study about the development of an M.D. school.
Walsh, as well as Dr. Scott Ransom, president of the Health Science Center, pointed to the economic push an M.D. school would give Fort Worth as a reason why UNT should take the initiative to create an allopathic medical school.
Business leaders recognize the potential benefits a school could bring, but have already benefited from Health Science Center and its established medical school, the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, have brought to the community, said Bill Thornton, president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
“I think it’s important for the community to be reminded of the economic impact of the preeminent osteopathic medical school we already have,” Thornton said.
The Chamber’s board of directors passed a resolution Oct. 15 that supports an allopathic school to complement the osteopathic school, and the resolution stated that the Health Science Center would be “adding to its $400 million annual economic impact on the Fort Worth community by adding a medical school.”
The report presented by Walsh stated that economic benefits associated with M.D. programs are “traditionally associated with additional, high-paying jobs related to administrators and faculty, capital investment impacts and research spin-off
companies.”
Immediate tax benefits would be minimal because there is no income tax in the state, Walsh said, but the creation of a school could lead to snowballing interest and business activity. In 2008, Texas saw a $31 billion total direct and indirect impact from institutions within the state that are members of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the report said.
About 18 months ago, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council commissioned a study that looked at the economic impact of the council’s member hospitals and broke it down by various levels. In Tarrant County, more than 24,000 people are employed by member hospitals, with another 3,346 jobs in construction from capital improvement projects and 26,510 secondary jobs created in other businesses.
The total income impact in Tarrant County was considerable: $1.4 billion was paid to employees of member hospitals, with more to construction workers and employees in secondary businesses, and $846 million was spent in retail sales, leading to $51 million in state sales taxes from the retail spending.
“Health care plays an integral part of the economy, and you can mirror that in being nearly 20 percent of the gross domestic product,” said Stephen Love, president and CEO of the DFWHC.
Because there is not a definite decision about whether an M.D. school will open in Fort Worth — the Nov. 20 meeting only gave the go-ahead to continue planning — Love said it’s uncertain how much of a positive impact another medical school would have on the area.
“I can’t measure it and quantify it, but I can certainly tell you it will happen,” he said.
Some of the detractors of the new allopathic school brought up business as well, albeit in a different light. Dr. David Garza, the president of the TCOM Alumni Association and who spoke against an M.D. program, asked at the meeting why the state would fund a new medical school, the idea for which he said came from the local business community.
Ransom, who supports the development, said the financial benefits that would come with agreements between medical schools and local health systems as well as increased research funding would serve to protect TCOM, since osteopathic students would benefit from expanded residency programs and collaborative partnerships.
The business decision about whether to create an allopathic program is one that is not being taken lightly, many said at the meeting. While an entrepreneur could create a company and then watch the business fail, creating a new school is not as easily done, said Dr. Larry Wickless, president of the American Osteopathic Association.
Wickless, who spoke at the meeting against the formation of a new school, reminded the board that this was a business decision that will last “forever.”
