New legislative panel will study potential for a URI medical school

An anatomy lab at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando, Fla. (Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)

Would a second medical school in Rhode Island, based out of its flagship public university, help fill the shortage of primary care physicians?

This is among the questions a 21-member legislative panel will seek to answer over the next year-and-a-half. The not-so-succinctly named Special Commission to make a Comprehensive Study of Rhode Island’s Healthcare Workforce Related to Educating and Retaining Primary Care Physicians and Establishing a State Medical School at the University of Rhode Island was created under a Senate resolution sponsored by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski and approved in June. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio announced his picks to the panel on Tuesday.

“Few issues are as important as health care, and right now, our health care system is in critical condition,” Ruggerio said in a statement. “Strengthening the primary care pipeline is an essential part of our work to make health care more accessible and affordable for Rhode Islanders, and this important commission will explore all options to achieve this goal, including a new medical school at URI.”

Led by University of Rhode Island President Marc Parlange and Sen. Pam Lauria, a Barrington Democrat and primary care nurse practitioner, the commission has until January 2026 to submit a comprehensive study and recommendations to the Senate on how to bolster the state’s dwindling health care workforce, including critical primary care physicians.

Rhode Island is not alone in its dearth of health care workers; nationwide, health care workers across a spectrum of specialties are in high demand and short supply due in part to pandemic-inspired retirements and career changes. Rhode Island has struggled in particular with recruiting and retaining new workers to replace its care providers approaching retirement, which experts and advocates blame on lower reimbursement rates compared with neighboring states. And while Brown University’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine is viewed as a crown jewel in the state higher education landscape, many of its graduates don’t stay and work in the Ocean State.

Hence the need for a more affordable state medical school that recruits students who may be more likely to lend their education to jobs within the state.

“URI, as Rhode Island’s flagship public research university, is committed to addressing the state’s most pressing needs and to making a positive difference in our communities and in the lives of Rhode Islanders,” Parlange said in a statement.

The study commission is among a host of bills approved this year aimed at addressing the health care worker shortage, including a separate bill sponsored by Lauria expanding a state student loan relief program to recently graduated primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who stay in Rhode Island.

However, more work is needed, said Sosnowski, a South Kingstown Democrat and panel appointee.

“While we will continue to work on the aspects of the health package that address the coming primary care crisis, such as reimbursement rates, we also know that these bills are not a silver bullet,” Sosnowski said. We need to explore every avenue we can to ensure Rhode Islanders can access the care they need.”

Other lawmakers appointed to the study panel are Sens. Alana DiMario and Thomas Paolino and Reps. Susan Donovan and Jacquelyn Baginski. The rest of the panel includes Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera; Dr. Staci Fischer with the Rhode Island Department of Health; Kerry LaPlante, dean of the URI College of Pharmacy; Danny Willis, dean of the URI College of Nursing; Dr. Patrick Vivier, dean of the URI College of Health Services; Barbara Wolfe, URI provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; Margo Cook, chair of the URI board of Trustees; Armand Sabitoni, vice chair of the URI board of trustees; Thomas Ryan, member of the URI board of trustees; Teresa Paiva Weed, president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island; Stacy Paterno, executive vice president of the Rhode Island Medical Society; Christopher Koller, former state health insurance commissioner; Dr. Michael Fine, former state health director; and Dr. Marie Ganim, an adjunct professor of health services policy and practice at Brown University.

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