THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 27, 1995 TAG: 9511270053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
While the Medical College of Virginia and the University of Virginia's medical school debate dumping their hospitals to stay afloat fiscally, Hampton Road's own medical school faces a different challenge to survive:
Eastern Virginia Medical School must raise its profile with Hampton Roads' movers and shakers.
EVMS has never owned a hospital - an advantage these days, since hospitals are struggling to keep beds full and profits up. But it counts on financial help from local cities.
And most of the city leaders who provided crucial support for the school's founding 22 years ago have faded from the spotlight and no longer have power over city budgets.
That's partly why the medical school commissioned a $30,000 report that shows how much the Hampton Roads economy depends on the medical school's endeavors.
The recently released report says EVMS adds $513.9 million annually to the local economy. About half of that money is direct revenue, such as tuition and patients' payments to school doctors, said Gilbert R. Yochum, an Old Dominion University economics professor, who conducted the study with a colleague, Vinod B. Agarwal.
The other half, the report said, is ``indirect'' revenue: rent paid by students, shopping done by people who come to this area to work at or get services from the school.
The report comes at a critical time for EVMS. Like other medical schools around the country, it is riding out a storm of health-care upheavals and positioning itself to survive.
Proposed changes in Medicare reimbursement could reduce the revenue the school gets from its faculty members' patients. And the managed-care revolution is squeezing the health care industry, cutting jobs for doctors and closing hospitals. Just last week, a national study recommended cutting enrollment in America's medical schools by 20 percent, primarily by closing schools.
EVMS, unlike the state's other two medical schools, is a private institution. Yet it receives about $11.7 million of its annual $122 million budget from the state, and an additional $1.3 million from the governments of all Hampton Roads cities except Newport News.
Copies of the report have been sent to the economic development directors in each of the cities.
In the past, school officials would visit city managers' offices in the region, armed with a few statistics: the number of EVMS employees in their cities; the number of patient visits from the cities; the number of indigent patients cared for; and information on special local programs.
``From time to time, someone would question, `What are we getting for our money?' '' recalled Edward E. Brickell, EVMS president.
But now times are tough, and council seats no longer are filled by the people who shepherded the school through its early years.
``We deal with some pretty hard-headed, practical, pragmatic businessmen and legislators'' who want to know about the bottom line, Brickell said. ``That elected official has every right to look at the cost-benefit ratio.''
The school faces several other challenges. Among them:
Fund raising. The school is two years into a major five-year campaign to build its endowment. EVMS started with a rather brash move, announcing the campaign before any money had been pledged. Most colleges and universities don't publicize until they have raised some money.
School officials say they have raised close to what they had hoped for by this point, with $19.8 million toward the goal of $62 million.
Repositioning to take advantage of managed care. About 41 percent of the school's money comes from patient care provided by faculty members' practices, which are located on the school grounds and in offices throughout the area.
Like other medical schools, EVMS is restructuring the program to make it more efficient - and more attractive to employers and insurers.
The goal, officials say, is to offer one-stop medical shopping. Eventually, the school's practices might evolve into a health maintenance organization, contracting directly with employers. ILLUSTRATION: EVMS REPORT
According the report, EVMS:
Adds $514 million to the local economy, about half in direct
revenue like patient fees, and half from indirect revenue, like
off-campus services used by students, employees, and people from out
of town who come to see school specialists.
Generates 8,565 local jobs and a $208 million payroll
by CNB