Governor Endorses Medical School Expansion
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Wednesday wrote a letter to the chair of the University of California Board of Regents endorsing the expansion of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science from a two-year to a four-year school, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Drew students currently train at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew University Medical Center, but the medical center failed a CMS inspection this summer and will no longer accept Drew students (Los Angeles Times, 10/26).
A proposal to reorganize King/Drew to maintain services at the hospital calls for terminating King/Drew's affiliation with Drew University.
County Department of Health Services Director Bruce Chernof said the county would like to help reassign Drew students to other county facilities.
David Janssen, county chief administrative officer, said the county would not renew its contract with Drew to manage medical training programs and provide some patient care at the facility. The contract expires June 30 and is worth about $12 million annually (California Healthline, 10/4).