The on-again, off-again relationship between Fernwood and a college of osteopathic medicine appears to be on again — for good this time, according to Dr. Glenn Zeidman, director of medical education at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center.
“We are proud to announce that we’re working with LECOM university to put together a college of medicine for this area,” Zeidman said last week.
Officials from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) confirmed Thursday that at least one member of the school’s board of trustees will come to this area in the next 60 days to look at land in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park and make a recommendation to the board as to purchasing or leasing the land. Zeidman said the deal might involve up to 100 acres.
LECOM is a non-profit, private, graduate school of medicine and pharmacy. The main campus is located in Erie, Pa. In 2004, LECOM opened a branch in Bradenton, Fla., and is looking to expand its program even more.
“We’ve been looking for a place to open a branch in that area for a long time, even before we opened Bradenton,” said Pierre Bellicini, LECOM director of marketing and communications. “We have been meeting with the people in Mississippi, and I can tell you that there is an interest, there has been an interest for a couple of years, and we would like to open a campus in that area.”
The two hospitals closest to home for Mississippi students who want to study osteopathic medicine are at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth and the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa.
The problem with not having a college closer to home is that many times, when students leave Mississippi, particularly southwest Mississippi, to study elsewhere, they tend to stay elsewhere, Zeidman said. There are 264 D.O.s in Mississippi, according to the American Osteopathic Association — .6 percent of the nearly 59,000 practicing nationwide.
LECOM, which opened in 1992, is operated by Dr. John Ferrette and his sister, Dr. Silvia Ferrette. The college grants the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and the Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. It condenses four years of intense medical training into three, thereby getting them into the primary care system sooner, according to the college’s Web site.
LECOM, which opened in 1992, is operated by Dr. John Ferrette and his sister, Dr. Silvia Ferrette. The college grants the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and the Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. It condenses four years of intense medical training into three, thereby getting students into the primary care system sooner, according to the college’s Web site.
Doctors of osteopathy are doctors of medicine — doctors of osteopathic medicine, Zeidman said. Basically, D.O.s take a “whole-body” approach to treating a patient, looking at how an illness or an injury might affect the whole body as opposed to treating a specific illness or injury.
And in theory, the addition of a LECOM campus won’t just enhance a patient’s quality of life, but it will help the quality of life of the community at large, Zeidman said.
A second college campus here would bring in new people, new jobs, new monies and new businesses, said Scott Johnson, who is backing the project.
In addition to promoting the college, Johnson and Zeidman are encouraging the incorporation of the community of Fernwood. Johnson is self-appointed mayor and Zeidman is alderman-at-large until an election can be held, assuming incorporation is granted. Johnson, Zeidman and other incorporation backers are passing around a petition to present to chancery court.
Zeidman said the main LECOM campus employs about 80 faculty, staff and support workers, while its outlying buildings contribute several hundred more jobs to the Erie area. He isn’t sure how many are employed by the Bradenton branch but said the Fernwood location should be comparable.
Britt Herrin, executive director of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development District, has been in on talks with LECOM officials and said the campus could be a boon for southwest Mississippi’s economy.
“There are certainly a lot of advantages for it,” Herrin said. “It would increase the quality of life. It would bring new people, new businesses here. They haven’t been real specific in terms of numbers in our talks. But obviously, there would be some high-paying jobs. Medical teachers would be a big impact, and then support staff.”
Several questions remain: How much land will LECOM be interested in? When would a campus open and how many students will it serve? What will the cost, if any, be to the residents of Pike County?
At the moment, those questions are hard to answer, Zeidman and Herrin said.
But paramount among those questions is whether LECOM will open a branch here subsequent to its visit in the next 60 days. Debra Sanko, the LECOM liaison appointed to work with Zeidman and others in Mississippi, did not return phone calls Friday from the Enterprise-Journal.
“The money is there, the land is there, they’ve made a full commitment,” Johnson said. “There’s one hurdle, and that’s the number of students we have to place in the third- and fourth-year clinical rotations.”
Those placements must be assured before the branch can be accredited, a process that when it goes smoothly takes about a year, Bellicini said.
He added that “After that (visit within 60 days), we will do due diligence and will work to see whether there is a need for a college there. There is no time frame. But we are very interested in pursuing that.”
Herrin said he isn’t sure what will happen, but that he’s encouraged by the conversations and meetings that have taken place.
“Without a doubt, the interest is real,” he said. “We’re just working with them to keep them interested.”
