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WVSOM president steps away from privatization controversy

By Tina Alvey

The REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

BECKLEY, W.Va. — On the same day that Senate President Mitch Carmichael promised the demise of legislation aimed at transferring the assets and ownership of one of the state’s medical schools to a private, nonprofit corporation, SB 184’s primary sponsor — Sen. Craig Blair — expressed hope that the measure could somehow be revived.

While legislators may have sent mixed messages about the issue to reporters this legislative season, the school’s president hastened to indicate he is more than ready to step away from the controversy.

In a media release issued a week ago Friday, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine President Dr. Michael D. Adelman emphasized his desire to work with legislators and the governor for the good of the institution. Gov. Jim Justice had earlier taken a firm stance against privatization of the school.

“WVSOM now has a unique opportunity through the leadership of Governor Justice and the support of the West Virginia Legislature to advance the mission of WVSOM as a state institution,” Adelman is quoted in the release.

“We want to continue working collaboratively with Governor Justice and the West Virginia Legislature to move the school forward and to build upon the collective passion and support of WVSOM,” Adelman continued.

More often than not during the 16 days it took state Senate leaders to declare the privatization measure “dead,” that passion seemed to be mostly on the side of the bill’s opponents.

No less a force than the West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association (WVOMA), representing the state’s 1,265 licensed osteopathic physicians, issued a formal position statement in mid-February opposing SB 184.

Posted on the association’s website, the statement cites several reasons for the organization’s opposition to the privatization measure, primary among them the donation of more than $120 million in taxpayer cash and property (based upon figures provided by the Higher Education Policy Commission) to a private, unidentified corporate entity which would take ownership of the school.

Another major concern, according to the statement, is that tuition for prospective in-state students could double following privatization, rendering the school too expensive for West Virginia students to attend.

The statement summed up: “The current version of the legislation does not include any safeguards that will protect the state’s assets and investment in the WVSOM. This move to privatize may eliminate an educational option for the state’s citizens.”

• • •

The school’s position as the leader in providing physicians to care for West Virginia’s rural population is also high on the list of concerns voiced by Dr. Kyle Muscari, a 2013 graduate of WVSOM who is also a third-generation primary care physician, now practicing in Beckley.

Speaking to The Register-Herald before Carmichael said he would not run HB 184 in the face of the school’s newfound opposition, Muscari said, “If in-state tuition goes from $24,000 a year to $48,000, that’s going to mean less primary care doctors in West Virginia. This state is already medically underserved. It makes me nervous.”

The doctor said he feels any move toward privatization is “short-sighted,” particularly with the assets of the school being given away to a private nonprofit.

“I love my school; they’re doing a good job there,” he said. “It’s myopic for the state to lose those assets to save six or seven million dollars (West Virginia’s annual investment in WVSOM).”

Whatever the long-term outcome of the debate that has taken place over the past several weeks, Muscari said, “The school will be fine. What I’m worried about is the people of West Virginia.”

•••

Another alumnus of the school, Dr. Rodney Fink, who graduated in 1987 and stayed in West Virginia to practice medicine, addressed the potential financial loss and health care fallout should WVSOM be turned over to a private corporation.

Citing estimated assets of at least $191 million — much higher than HEPC’s official estimate that was attached to HB 184 — Fink said, “This is an investment that the citizens have made over 40 years. You can stand anywhere on the campus, turn 360 degrees, and see the wonderful success of that investment all around you.”

As not only a former student, but also a past chairman of WVSOM’s Board of Governors, Fink spoke with great feeling about what he sees as the dangers of privatization.

“How can anyone look at this school, with $191 million in assets, and say, ‘Let’s give it away’? Why? If the state’s in the hole $500 million, why give away such an asset?”

Even so, the physical plant is far from the school’s greatest asset, Fink said, noting that most of West Virginia’s primary care physicians today are here because of WVSOM.

The impact on southern West Virginia and the Greenbrier Valley “would just be disastrous” if the school’s in-state student base were to erode, as feared, with a hike in tuition, Fink said.

He is confident that he does not stand alone in opposing the puzzling privatization push that was led primarily by legislators from the Eastern Panhandle.

In addition to the WVOMA, the WVSOM Alumni Association is on record against the measure, and a survey taken in February by the school’s Classified Employee Advisory Council found that those workers oppose privatization by more than a two-to-one ratio, Fink said.

“Those of us who are part of the WVSOM family are passionate about our school,” he said. “We do not ever want to get away from a shining star like WVSOM.”

• • •

The school’s Friday media release revealed that additional legislation is now in the works that “allows WVSOM, along with WVU and Marshall University, to obtain more autonomy as state institutions.”

Without specifying the subject of that legislation, the release continued, “This would provide the flexibility that WVSOM needs (in order) to be a more efficient state institution as it continues to fulfill its mission to prepare osteopathic medical students to serve the state of West Virginia and the health care needs of its residents.”

“We are grateful for this opportunity,” Adelman said in the release. “We look forward to working collaboratively with the Governor and the Legislature on this initiative.”

— Email: [email protected]

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