Charlotte takes first steps towards Medical College

[kickazzz2000]

Not trying to be inflammatory so please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't get it. Of course, I am biased being an UNC-CH alumni, but the medical school is a part of UNC at Chapel Hill, not Charlotte, Asheville, ASU, Pembroke, etc. etc. ECU has a medical school and they are part of the UNC system but credit wouldn't be given to them. Why wouldn't it be attributed to Chapel Hill? Unless it becomes "freestanding," it would certainly carry the name of it's sponsor. Also, I THINK, but not positive, but don't you have to be a Level 1 Trauma Center to host a medical school? If that's true, none of the other institutions, with the exception of ECU would qualify. WakeMed is Level 1 but I don't believe they're really affiliated with NCSU.

[DanRNC]

WakeMed is affiliated with UNC.

[kickazzz2000]

Rex is affiliated with UNC Hospitals. WakeMed is independent.

[NLP]

Not trying to be inflammatory so please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't get it. Of course, I am biased being an UNC-CH alumni, but the medical school is a part of UNC at Chapel Hill, not Charlotte, Asheville, ASU, Pembroke, etc. etc. ECU has a medical school and they are part of the UNC system but credit wouldn't be given to them. Why wouldn't it be attributed to Chapel Hill? Unless it becomes "freestanding," it would certainly carry the name of it's sponsor. Also, I THINK, but not positive, but don't you have to be a Level 1 Trauma Center to host a medical school? If that's true, none of the other institutions, with the exception of ECU would qualify. WakeMed is Level 1 but I don't believe they're really affiliated with NCSU.

[Raintree21]

Giving the medical school the UNC Charlotte name would promote the growth and stature of the university. Doing so for UNC Chapel Hill or UNC Hospitals would not. Do you have a philosophical opposition to UNC Charlotte growing in stature? Just a question, not meant to be inflammatory just like you weren't.

[kickazzz2000]

By looking back at history, ECU's medical school began as an offshoot of UNC's. Students did 1st and 2nd year classes in Greenville while finishing up in Chapel Hill and UNC's other various affiliates. After a couple of years, the operation became freestanding with clinical rotations here at PCMH as well.

[atlrvr]

The below quote was from a Charlotte Business Journal article today that primarily was discussing an expansion of CMC-Pineville.

According to Michael Tarwater, chief executive of Carolinas HealthCare, plans are in the works to add a medical school at Carolinas Medical Center's main campus in Charlotte.

"Carolinas Medical Center has long been acknowledged as an academic medical center, teaching hospital and the major referral center," Tarwater says. "Through ongoing discussion and cooperation with the UNC School of Medicine, we fully expect that a medical school will also be located here in the future so that our teaching role will be expanded."

[Raintree21]

My sources say that it will be the UNC School of Medicine at Charlotte and currently the plans are still to house only 3rd and 4th year medical students with the potential to expand in the future. They will tear down the Carolinas College of Health Sciences and Carolinas Rehabilitation Hospital to build a much larger education building. Those personnel displaced by that demolition and construction would temporarily move to the 7th floor of the main hospital that will soon be vacated by the pediatric division that is soon to move to the new Levine Hospital. My friend who would be overseeing the division from Chapel Hill still says that the only thing lacking is the funding from the state for them to proceed. He couldn't give me a timetable though.

Others reminded me that they are also looking at developing the lot by the ABC store soon and I noticed today that they tore down the power plant / AC units at the front of the property that borders the creek today.

[maratletter]

My sources say that it will be the UNC School of Medicine at Charlotte and currently the plans are still to house only 3rd and 4th year medical students with the potential to expand in the future. They will tear down the Carolinas College of Health Sciences and Carolinas Rehabilitation Hospital to build a much larger education building.

[Raintree21]

As I'm sure you know, they mostly house offices or are used as temporary housing for visiting doctors and other VIP's for the most part. CMC pretty much owns every property that abutts the hospital campus so that would allow them even more space to expand when the time comes to tear down the College of Health Sciences. That would be my guess however, they are slightly limited in that they JUST built a new power plant in that area also so I would think they wouldn't want to demolish that. It replaced the old ugly ones that would be blocking the view from the children's hospital if they hadn't just torn them down. If you combine the space that is taken up by the college and Carolina's Rehab Hospital, there is quite a bit of space. I could even vision some sort of work on the Blythe visitor's parking deck since it seems woefully inadequate.

[Raintree21]

The UNC Board of Governors has announced their support for the expansion of UNC Medical School to include CMC (as well as Mission St. Josephs in Asheville and at ECU in Greenville). Besides adminsistrative stuff, I believe the only thing lacking now is legislative approval of funding.

[Herbert Peek]

Any word on legislative approval for UNC Medical School at CMC?

[Raintree21]

I work with people on both sides of the deal and have not heard any mention of it in a while.

[AuLukey]

Just a quick recap question just for clarity. Is this medical school being proposed by UNC-Chapel Hill or the UNC system? I will say that if it is in fact being put together by the UNC system, then it should not have Chapel Hill linked to it at all. If it is Chapel Hill that is promoting this medical school on its own, that is a whole different case and I can understand that naming scenario just like the Wake Forest business school uptown. I'll eat my own words if Chapel Hill is wanting to expand their medical school into Charlotte by their idea alone.

I wish it were the UNC system that is implementing this idea, that way there will be consideration to either affiliate this with Charlotte (UNCC that is,) or name it as an entirely new school in general. Hell, why not link it with the Biotech Campus? It is health care after all.

I still feel very deceived by UNC-Charlotte in general though. When I went to look at colleges, I was planning on being in a Pre-Med program. Charlotte told me that they would have a medical school by 2007, when I would have graduated that program. And actually, the absence of a medical school in Charlotte is part of the reason why I changed majors two and a half years in. That's life I guess

[Herbert Peek]

Do the sources still say that the College of Health Sciences and Rehab Hospital are targets for the expansion?

[Raintree21]

Just a quick recap question just for clarity. Is this medical school being proposed by UNC-Chapel Hill or the UNC system? I will say that if it is in fact being put together by the UNC system, then it should not have Chapel Hill linked to it at all. If it is Chapel Hill that is promoting this medical school on its own, that is a whole different case and I can understand that naming scenario just like the Wake Forest business school uptown. I'll eat my own words if Chapel Hill is wanting to expand their medical school into Charlotte by their idea alone.

I wish it were the UNC system that is implementing this idea, that way there will be consideration to either affiliate this with Charlotte (UNCC that is,) or name it as an entirely new school in general. Hell, why not link it with the Biotech Campus? It is health care after all.