Floyd: Med school to stay in Columbia
Published Jan. 23, 2004
On Tuesday, UM System President Elson Floyd reassured doctors and students that the medical school in Columbia will stay put. Floyd announced in an open forum Tuesday that the future of the school was rooted at MU.
Rep. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, requested the forum after rumors surfaced of an attempt to move MU's School of Medicine to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus.
"There was obviously a conversation with some of the leaders in Kansas City talking about the nature of health care in Kansas City and trying to figure out a way that the University of Missouri can help relative to the health-related issues of Kansas City," Floyd said when questioned about e-mails that proposed the move of the medical school to UMKC.
At the forum, employees of University Hospitals and Clinics and faculty members of the medical school outlined the future of the school and discussed a bond to fund the construction of a new health services research building.
Both medical school Dean William Crist and Vice Provost of Research Jim Coleman stressed the need for the bond to fund construction for a new research center for the school.
"Researchers need to have top-notch equipment," Coleman said. "Investing in facilities attracts great people and allows success. This too yields great returns."
The UM system is seeking a $190 million bond from the General Assembly, Floyd said. More than $100 million of the bond would go to MU, and a portion of that amount would fund the new research center.
"The General Assembly wouldn't support investments in the school if they thought it might move," Graham said. "Moving the med school would be disruptive for medicine at MU and medicine in the state of Missouri.
Graham said UMKC does not have what it takes to lead the state in human life sciences.
Floyd said there was never a thought in his mind nor the curators' minds to move the school of medicine to Kansas City.
"The medical school in Kansas City is fundamentally different than the medical school here," he said.
Columbia is the right place for the medical school Graham said.
"We don't have the money that other places do, but we have a strong story to tell and I look forward to working with the leaders here at the University of Missouri to continue to tell our story," he said.