Benefis wants med school to come to Great Falls

In a letter sent to the Burrell Group, Benefis Health System and the Great Falls Development Authority are encouraging developers of a private medical college to locate the four-year graduate program in Great Falls.

“We’d be crazy not to try,” said John Goodnow, CEO of Benefis Health System.

Benefis has been pushing, along with the Burrell Group out of New Mexico, to establish a medical school in Montana to help address physician shortages in this state and surrounding states. Initial discussions focused on locating the college in Bozeman, potentially in partnership with Montana State University.

However, last week officials with the Burrell Group announced that discussions with MSU have ended for now. Goodnow, who was tapped by the Burrell Group to serve as interim president of the medical school while officials conducted a feasibility study in Montana, said he didn’t want to pitch Great Falls as a possible location while negotiations were taking place.

“I was trying not to interfere with the Bozeman conversation,” Goodnow said.

The letter sent to the Burrell Group included signatures from Benefis’ board chairman Dave Richards, Benefis’ chief medical officer Dr. Greg Tierney, and Brett Doney, president and CEO of the GFDA.

“I could have had a lot of people sign the letter,” Goodnow said.

Joanie Griffin, spokesperson for the Burrell Group, said officials in New Mexico, including Burrell Group founder Dan Burrell, are pleased to hear Great Falls wants to be considered.

“Great Falls will definitely be considered,” she said.

She was careful to point out, though, that the Burrell Group is still engaged in a feasibility study and no agreements of any kind have been made. But she did say now that discussions have stalled with MSU, the Burrell Group has expanded their geographical search to include possibly locating the private medical school in Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota or South Dakota.

That’s why Goodnow said Great Falls should step up to the plate.

“I think that would be just a tragic loss for the state of Montana,” he said.

The Burrell School of Osteopathic Medicine in New Mexico is just now accepting applications for first-year medical students.

Pre-feasibility studies conducted by the Burrell Group said if a medical school was to be established in Montana, it wouldn’t open until 2018 and hospitals and health clinics across the state wouldn’t need to be ready to accept the 150 students who need clerkship training and residency programs until 2020 or later.

Physicians from across the state have objected to the proposal, saying Montana doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle 150 students each year needing to complete clerkships and residencies and worried that the proposal would compete against the WWAMI graduate medical education program that offers space to 30 Montana med school students.

Medical school developers have said all along, though, that the school will serve more than just Montana. Clerkships and residencies will be promoted in surrounding states where there are also critical physician shortages.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.