A four-year veteran-focused medical school developed collaboratively between Syracuse University and the Veterans Administration would provide an economic boost and address a VA physician shortage, according to a leading economic impact research firm.

In a 107-page report compiled by the Faculty Advisory Committee that was created to assess the feasibility of a veteran-focused College of Medicine and obtained by The Daily Orange, the committee raises several findings. A few of those acknowledge that SU must assess the economic effect that moving forward with the College of Medicine would have on the university’s existing programs and resources.

A separate portion of the report addresses the economic impact the new school could bring to central New York and New York state. That separate report, commissioned in August by SU and completed in October by Tripp Umbach, a leading economic impact research firm, stated the proposed four-year medical school would have a largely positive economic influence on the area, potentially creating thousands of jobs and generating millions of dollars in revenue.

Tripp Umbach stated in its report that the best way to adequately address the physician shortage at the VA and have the greatest economic impact on New York state is through the collaborative development of a four-year veteran-focused medical school between SU and the Veterans Administration.

This approach presents the university and the state with the best opportunity to develop a new, independent, four-year medical school in Syracuse without taking resources away from SUNY Upstate Medical University or other medical schools in the state, according to the report.

That conclusion is based on five supporting reasons, including SU’s track record of service to veterans and their families, its strength in other health science programs and its future research growth potential, according to the report.

Tripp Umbach estimates that a new four-year medical school developed by SU, in partnership with the Veterans Administration, could have a total annual economic impact to New York state of $140 million in 2020 when the medical school opens. That number increases to $520 million in 2025 and $800 million in 2030, according to the report.

In terms of jobs, the school could support 950 jobs by 2020, 3,500 jobs by 2025 and 5,200 jobs by the year 2030, according to the report.

Tripp Umbach also estimates that the proposed medical school could generate $7 million in 2020, $26 million in 2025 and $40 million by 2030 in state and local tax revenue, according to the report.

These estimates were based on the growing need for healthcare services for veterans and in the VA Health System, and that clinical training sites and graduate medical education programs are more likely to grow within the VA Health System than in the general healthcare environment over the next 15 years, according to the report.

However these gains are not without a cost. The initial facility cost for a four-year university medical school is estimated at $68 million, according to the report.

The SU administration’s assertion, according to a main finding of the faculty advisory committee, is that there must be financial support from the state and federal government to make the decision to move forward on the project viable.

There was a large amount of concern from faculty, cited in the report, that funding and resources will be drawn from other areas of campus to cover additional costs of the proposed medical school.

“This proposed idea is going to suck the life out of Syracuse University and everything it does,” read one anonymous faculty response to a survey sent out about the project. “It will come at the cost of all else.”

Faculty Advisory Committee Final Report

Published on November 2, 2015 at 10:00 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27