University of the Pacific announced plans for a School of Medicine to address physician shortages across the Central Valley and other areas that face “dangerous health care disparities.”
University officials, state leaders and city leaders came together on Thursday, May 28, in front of Pacific’s Knoles Hall, at 3601 Pacific Ave., in Stockton for the announcement. The 175-year-old university was the first ever college founded in California and now has nine other colleges.
“The new School of Medicine aligns perfectly with our mission,” University President Christopher Callahan said. “We are not only ready, willing and able to tackle the dangerous and growing problem of the severe lack of physicians, but we believe it is our duty and responsibility.”
This will put Pacific as the 36th American university to have schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and health sciences, according to university officials.
Pacific leads the way
On May 15, the Pacific Board of Regents voted unanimously and approved the school of medicine, a Pacific news release states.
In early March, the Stockton City Council supported University of the Pacific’s request for $7 million in federal funding to purchase teaching equipment for the new school.
Stockton City Councilmember Mario Enríquez of District 4 is also a Pacific alumni who graduated in 2010 with a sociology major.
“To have more medical doctors in Stockton is a great deal, not just in Stockton but in the Central Valley,” Enríquez said. “We need more physicians and the fact that Pacific’s leading the way means a lot.”
Callahan said he and U.S. Rep. Josh Harder have worked on the concept of the new school for almost a year.
“This project is a culmination of all the best parts of Stockton working together,” Harder said. “It’s going to be transformational for medicine across the region at a time when we have half the doctors per capita in the Central Valley that the Bay Area has.”
Harder added that it should be an “outrage” that Central Valley residents don’t already have a medical school.
“That’s an embarrassment and this project is going to rectify it,” Harder said. “It’s not just on medicine. It’s going to fix a lot of the educational inequalities across the valley.”
‘There is a place for you’
Leticia Robles, Pacific Board of Regents vice chair and a 1989 Pacific alumna, said Pacific gave her confidence and a purpose.
The first-generation college graduate and the founder of Pacific Homecare Services, said Pacific will be that place for students dreaming of becoming doctors.
“There are students sitting in classrooms across our region right now who dream of becoming physicians but wonder if there will ever be a place for them,” Robles said. “Today, Pacific is telling them: There is a place for you here. Your story matters. Your dreams matter. And your future matters.”
Mary-Elizabeth Eberhardt, Pacific Board of Regents chair, said Pacific created the first medical school in the American West, in San Francisco in 1858, which later became part of what is now known as Stanford University School of Medicine.
Pacific’s new School of Medicine is partnering with Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center, where Dignity Health will place Pacific third- and fourth-year medical school students in clinical rotations at St. Joseph’s and other hospitals across the region, officials said.
“There is a void from Bakersfield to Stockton that we really look to fill,” said David Ziolkowski, president and CEO of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center.
Scott Biedermann, Pacific vice president for development and alumni relations, said the project will be a new 100,000 square foot building on the Stockton campus.
“The School of Medicine represents more than just an academic program. It is a program that is aimed to decrease the health disparities in the Central Valley,” Biedermann said. “It’s a workforce development initiative for this region and it’s one in which the economic development that the School of Medicine will bring to the region is going to lift us all up.”
Pacific’s School of Medicine is expected to begin construction of the building in 2028-2029. The school is expected to open in fall 2030, with 60 students, Biedermann said. When fully operational, the school is expected to accommodate 400 students
Cost for the new building is estimated at $150 million. Pacific has already raised $26 million in private donations, Biedermann said.
Donations for the new school have come from the Cortopassi Family Foundation and Tony Chan, a member of the Pacific Board of Regents and his wife, Virginia Chan, a former regent, Callahan said.
“We are not just building a medical school, we are building the kind of medical school the public deserves,” Tony Chan said. “The whole valley, and frankly, the whole capital, will be our jury.”
Tony Chan shared with the crowd that his father died when he was just 5 years old because he did not have access to medical care. He said he never wanted anyone to go through what he did and made a promise to himself that if he ever had the chance to help, he would.
“I started in this Valley pushing a mop. Because people believed in me, I’m standing here today,” Tony Chan said. “This medical school is how we make sure the next kid mopping floors doesn’t have to leave the Valley to become a doctor. He or she can stay here.”
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers business and community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Pacific’s new medical school aims to reshape care across Central Valley
Reporting by Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record / The Record
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