During a joint meeting of the Ohio University Board of Trustees' Academics and Resources committees, Vice President for Student Affairs Kent Smith and College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean Jack Brose presented the concept of a collaboration involving the Division of Student Affairs and University Medical Associates, a physician group made up of College of Osteopathic Medicine faculty members and based in Ohio University's Parks Hall.

The proposed facility would house University Medical Associates, the student health center and the university's Counseling and Psychological Services. They would share resources, including a diagnostic center, physical therapy, a research and education center, and a pharmacy.

Smith noted that when Hudson Health Center opened in 1949, the ratio of Hudson Health Center physicians to students was 1:700. Today, it is 1:3,300. Additionally, Counseling and Psychological Services has seen appointments more than double since 1995-96, while staffing levels have remained relatively constant. The number of emergency visits to Counseling and Psychological Services grew from 125 in 1995-96 to 627 in 2006-07. During the meeting, Smith explained that one of the benefits of a new facility will be the ability to offer expanded services and increase staffing.

Smith outlined Hudson Health Center's inadequacies and maintenance problems, noting such things as the use of closets for exam rooms, falling plaster due to excessive moisture in the building and holes in walls.

Brose outlined the inadequacies of the layout of Parks Hall as a health facility, which he said can make it difficult for patients to be seen efficiently. The building opened as a residence hall in 1962, and OU-COM converted it for use as a medical facility in 1983.

Brose pointed to a new level of competition within the Athens community as another reason to pursue a more up-to-date facility. O'Bleness Memorial Hospital's Castrop Center and the soon-to-open Holzer Clinic are endangering OU-COM's teaching, research and service missions, he said.

Without a comparable new facility, OU-COM could face a 20 percent loss of its patient base, resulting in a $1.8 million loss of revenue per year to faculty members/physicians, increased medical costs for the Ohio University community and the loss of up to half of the OU-COM clinical faculty. The loss of faculty would in turn lead to inadequacies in clinical research and teaching, as well as student health and community services such as OU-COM's free clinic, he said.

The concept for a joint facility evolved out of the need for both UMA and Hudson Health Center to find new, more adequate facilities and the recommendations contained in a university-commissioned report last summer. The report by consultants Keeling & Associates said the university would benefit from partnering with other health care agencies and that building a new facility would be more cost-effective than renovating Hudson Health Center.

Vice President for Finance and Administration Bill Decatur discussed potential financing options with the committee, noting that issuing bonds is the lead option for financing capital construction costs. Potential sources of revenue to help alleviate debt from the bonds and fund the operating and program costs included:

• Lease income from UMA
• Lease income from the diagnostic facility
• A building/operations general fee (potentially only for facility users)
• Third-party billing revenue
• Development initiatives

One proposed location for the new facility is the Pepsi TailGreat Park area across from Peden Stadium. Brose and Smith noted that this location is within walking distance for students and convenient for community members, who would not have to park on campus.

During today's full Board of Trustees meeting, Chair C. Daniel DeLawder said the concept is a possible solution to the problem of inadequate health care facilities. He noted that while the board is not close to making a decision on the proposal, it is an issue members want to continue looking into.

As part of the board's information-gathering process, Trustee Larry Schey will evaluate the financial implications of the proposal with members of the University Resources Committee. More information will be presented at the board's next meeting in April.