Schumer: the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine-elmira College Proposal to Build a New Med School in Elmira Has Been Unfairly Rejected With Little Rhyme or Reason
Press Release
Standing at Arnot Ogden Medical Center, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today joined Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Medical Students, Arnot Ogden Medical Center resident physicians and Arnot Ogden Hospital Administration Officials, Members of the Elmira College Administration, and City and County Officials, to rally in support of establishing a four year medical college in the City of Elmira. Schumer said Elmira has begun a highly anticipated and much needed downtown revitalization effort after receiving a $10 million award from New York State. To augment this initiative, Schumer and economic development professionals have worked in collaboration with Elmira College and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine to establish a branch campus housing a four year medical school.
"This proposal is a win-win for those who call Chemung County home. A wave of students, faculty and residents into the community increases development, economic opportunity and that all means jobs which is just what the doctor ordered for the Southern Tier," said Senator Schumer. "Today I'm throwing my full support behind the establishment of a four year medical college here in Elmira, which would add tremendously to the vitality of the city, complementing the groundwork community leaders have laid for growth."
City and County officials along with Southern Tier Economic Growth have diligently assembled a targeted plan to promote development and resurgence within the city's urban core. "Refresh Elmira" will begin a synergy of other development efforts throughout the community of which the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine proposal is a cornerstone. The establishment of a branch four year medical college will bring an influx of students and faculty into the community. LECOM projects an estimate of 80 students each year, plus faculty will be added to the downtown daily. The presence of resident physicians at the hospital also in the downtown will spur residential development, and other support services as part of the downtown revitalization effort.
These students and resident physicians will help populate the downtown, creating a demand for housing and increase demand for goods and services all of which will promote development and investment within proximity to the campus and hospital.
The establishment of a branch four year medical college is the first in the Southern Tier region to train primary care physicians, something that is in short supply. The Southern Tier and Western NY regions face a significant shortage of healthcare providers with a ratio of 1500:1 for patients to primary care doctors. The Western NY and Southern Tier regions, have some of the lowest ranking health outcomes in the state, with Chemung County ranking #50 out of #62. A medical school in the Southern Tier could make significant strides in remedying some of the challenges the region currently faces to the well-being of its residents.
The LECOM Elmira Medical School Campus has received provisional accreditation from the Middle States Commission of Higher Education within the scope of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine's existing accreditation. However, the school is yet to receive preliminary accreditation by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA). LECOM has been denied an unprecedented four times by COCA despite providing documentation and clarification to questions raised regarding access to learning space and curriculum presented at the proposed Elmira campus.
Schumer continued: "I am urging the federal Department of Education to take all steps appropriate to see that the appeal process LECOM is currently engaged in is fair, thorough and swift. It is troubling that questions abound whether LECOM's proposal for Elmira has received a fair and objective process. Given how impactful this project is for the community it is imperative that we ensure it receive the appropriate consideration it is due. That is why I have called on the feds to ensure that it is evaluated on its merits and the credentials that Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine has spent decades building."
College and local officials assert that COCA's rejections are capricious and standards have not been objectively applied throughout the process, at the same time. The US Department of Education, who currently designates COCA as an accrediting body of Collages of Osteopathic Medicine has in recent times expressed concern over their accreditation process as a whole and has sought a response from COCA in regards to their questions.
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, is a well-established medical college, the largest in the United States with over 2,280 medical students at its 3 campuses. In 2016 U.S News and World Report ranked it number one in medical colleges over 1,000 students. LECOM already is an established fixture in New York State with over 320 medical students performing rotations at 16 New York State hospitals including Arnot Ogden Medical Center of Elmira, Our Lady of Lourdes of Binghamton, United Memorial in Batavia, Samaritan Hospital in Watertown, Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital and Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport NY. LECOM has received full accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and its Doctor of Osteopathic MEDICINE program has received previous approval from the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA).
"Despite our presentation a well-conceived and thoroughly vetted proposal, despite LECOM's track record of unprecedented excellent outcomes for all our campuses, despite our the extensive clinical network of rotations and graduate medical education opportunities we have developed here at Arnot and 4 other health systems in underserved regions of our State--COCA has still not yet granted us an approval to move forward. This is not right. This undermines our efforts to serve our community and other medically underserved areas of NYS by increasing the supply of future physicians to care for our citizens," said Dr. Richard Terry, Assistant Dean of Regional Clinical Education and Chief Academic Officer LECOMT.
On behalf of the City of Elmira, I'd like to thank Senator Schumer for all of his efforts and support to bring LECOM to Elmira College. LECOM is important to the City and our initiatives with our DRI Plan and the revitalization of Downtown Elmira. The City is grateful for this support and looks forward to working with State as we move forward," said Dan Mandell Mayor City of Elmira
In 2015, Senator Schumer sent a letter of support for the establishment of the Medical College in Elmira to COCA on behalf of LECOM's application. And again in March, Senator Schumer sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education's Acting Assistant Secretary to urge the Department to ensure COCA conducts an equitable and expeditious review of the appeal, based on COCA's published standards and the factual evidence prepared in LECOM's application.
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