RIECKEN ENCOURAGES COMMUNITY AND IVY TECH STUDENTS TO STAND UP AND DEMAND ANSWERS ABOUT MEDICAL SCHOOL PROJECT

(Riecken Charges That Decision Affects The Integrity Of The Entire Project)

Letter To The Editor

Gail Riecken

State Representative District #77

October 13, 2016

Last evening I talked with President Sue Ellspermann about Ivy Tech’s list of proposed capital projects for funding, and the new medical school campus, in particular. I want to publicly thank the President for calling me after her busy schedule.

I appreciate the objective evaluation metric the President’s administration has developed to prioritize their project requests to the Commission for Higher Education.

However, I believe the metric leaves out the importance of the history of Ivy Tech to the IU medical school project in Evansville and the critical relationship the project represents to the entire IU medical school.

I also believe not recommending the project is a breach of trust that legislators should challenge as Ivy Tech was promoted as an integral part of the IU medical school project.

If what I understand is correct, the Ivy Tech projects offered to the Commission in a meeting today did not include Evansville in the top priority for funding.

The decision to not fund Ivy Tech for construction at the medical school campus is a decision that affects the integrity of the entire project.

New concepts in collaborative health care were to be trained and practiced.

The new concepts were to be more effective and efficient in their use of medical personnel.

The forward thinking concept was to improve the health care delivery system of not only southern Indiana but of the entire State.

President Ellspermann said in our conversation that Ivy Tech’s job is to prepare students for the skills that build a future for them in jobs needed for the area. I can’t think of any industry more in need of skilled workers in Indiana than the health care industry.

It is time that we as a community and the students of Ivy Tech stand up and demand answers about what has happened to the IU medical school project that the Ivy Tech project is not slated on the list of priorities from the Ivy Tech administration.

I am asking that Ivy Tech request further education from the medical professionals who designed this project as to what is the health care delivery concept and Ivy Tech’s role envisioned in the design to better understand the concept?

And, I am requesting that a public meeting be held by the Mayor and City Council to hear this explanation as well as information relative to the following.

The Mayor and City Council should explain the dollars that are committed to the IU medical school project.

They should explain why millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent when Ivy Tech won’t be a part, resulting in only 25% of the promised number of students (now around 200) enrolled.

Ivy Tech, alone, was to provide 75% or more of the proposed students at the new facility, a promise that somehow seems to get lost in conversations about the project.

The Mayor and City Council should offer their plan for advocacy locally and in the legislature.

State elected legislators should offer their plan to advocate for funding.

And, Ivy Tech locally should offer how Ivy Tech can be involved in advocacy efforts.

The Ivy Tech project is important.

It is important to Hoosiers who want to see health care needs addressed in Indiana.

It is important to taxpayers who responded with a share of funding for the project.

It is important to students who want the best training and opportunity for their future.

Sincerely,

Gail Riecken

State Representative District #77

News Release From The Past Concerning The Selection Of  The IU Multidisciplinary Academic Medical Education And Research Center 

EDITORS NOTE:  What a difference two (2) years makes.  Attached is a April 11, 2014 news release from Indiana University media relations department concerning the selection of IU Multidisciplinary Academic Medical Education And Research Center in downtown Evansville.

We are amazed to hear that members of the Higher Education Commission, State Legislature and IvyTech are telling people that Ivy Tech-Evansville was never considered to be a part of this project and thats why they were not included in the upcoming Biennium budget hearings!

Please read the official News Release sent to us on April 11, 2014 by the Indiana University media relations department and see if you feel that Ivy-Tech-Evansville was never considered to be a part of the IU Multidisciplinary Academic Medical Education And Research Center in downtown Evansville.  It looks like someone isn’t telling the truth!

April 11, 2014

News Release From Indiana University

IU TO BUILD EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH MEDICAL CENTER IN DOWNTOWN EVANSVILLE

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana University Board of Trustees has selected Skanska U.S. HealthRealty to build a multidisciplinary academic medical education and research center in downtown Evansville that will expand the IU School of Medicine’s presence in the city and dramatically increase medicine- and health-related educational opportunities for students in southwestern Indiana and northwestern Kentucky.

The $69.5 million, 170,000-square-foot project, which IU President Michael A. McRobbie recommended to the trustees today from among proposals at four locations in the Evansville area, includes $35 million in incentives from the city of Evansville.

The facility could be completed in late 2017 and will house programs from the IU School of Medicine and the IU School of Dentistry, as well as Ivy Tech Community College, the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Evansville. It is expected to serve as many as 1,800 students.
“Each of the proposals for this facility were extremely strong, making the recommendation difficult and reflecting the keen interest and outstanding level of support this project has generated from across the Evansville region,” McRobbie said. “Ultimately, however, the focus of our evaluation turned on what was in the best interest of our students and other parties who will benefit most from this facility.

“The centrally located downtown site, which is in close proximity to all the city’s major medical facilities, was the clear preference of our students and also received strong support from our academic and hospital partners. While the academic quality of the programs created by this expansion is our paramount concern, it is our hope that this project also will play an important role in the continued economic development of Evansville’s downtown.”

McRobbie also praised the city’s leadership for its commitment to the downtown location through the creation of a Tax Increment Financing District that will provide $35 million in funding for the project. The facility will be in a six-block area and adjacent to a planned convention hotel. Evansville officials have estimated that the new School of Medicine facility could have an annual economic impact of as much as $340 million by 2020.

“This multi-institutional academic health science education campus will have a profound impact on the future of medicine, medical education and economic development throughout the region and beyond,” said Dr. Jay Hess, dean of the IU School of Medicine and vice president for clinical affairs at the university. “The educational and clinical partners involved in this project will play an important role in filling an acute need for physicians and other health care providers, improving access to the best possible patient care in a dramatically changing environment.”

Established in 1972, the IU School of Medicine-Evansville is one of eight IU regional medical schools across Indiana. IU School of Medicine-Evansville was originally divided into two campuses that were consolidated into the current location on the University of Southern Indiana campus in 1994. The program will begin offering four-year medical education for the first time this summer and currently enrolls 46 students.

With the completion of the project, the School of Medicine’s facilities in the city will be consolidated into the downtown location. The new medical school complex will be adjacent to the main downtown Deaconess Clinic, close to Deaconess Hospital’s downtown campus and a short drive to St. Mary’s Medical Center, the Deaconess Gateway and Women’s Hospital in east Evansville.

“I am very pleased with the support that the academic, medical and broader community-at-large have consistently shown for expanding medical education in southwestern Indiana and northwestern Kentucky,” said Dr. Steven Becker, associate dean and director of IU School of Medicine-Evansville. “I look forward to continuing this important work with our academic and health care partners to create a world-class educational experience for our students.”

Today’s decision by the trustees is the culmination of a review process that began in the summer of 2013 with an agreement among the four academic institutions that will house programs in the new facility. Indiana University issued a request for proposals in December 2013 and began reviewing the four qualifying proposals in February.

With the site selection complete, IU will now request the release of $2 million in funding from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana State Budget Committee, which was set aside in the state’s 2013 budget to be used for design planning. The three state-funded academic partners — IU, University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech — are expected to make a broader funding request from the state for construction of the facility during the 2015 legislative session, and if the money is appropriated and released, construction could begin by late next year.

All four academic partners will participate in programming at the facility and in the planning of their respective interior spaces. IU will coordinate the design and architecture work on the project.

IU Trustee Patrick Shoulders, an Evansville resident and partner in the law firm Ziemer Stayman Weitzel & Shoulders in the city, hailed the decision to expand medical education in Evansville as a positive for both IU and the region.

“This medical education campus has transformative potential for our area, and I am extremely pleased that IU is using its great resources, along with those of our educational partners, to make this happen,” Shoulders said. “Southwestern Indiana has long been the only region of the state without a large IU presence, and with this decision, we begin to remedy that omission.”

EDITORS FOOTNOTE: Last week one of our contacts within Indiana Commission for Higher Education gave us an update on the status of the funding request by Ivy Tech-Evansville to be part of the IU Medical School-Evansville capital project.

We were told that the President of Ivy Tech Dr. Sue Ellsperman’s formal capital budget request did not include a funding request for Ivy Tech-Evansville offering medical classes on the campus of the new IU Medical facility in Evansville for the upcoming Biennium. (2 years).

The Commission for Higher Education will soon vote to support the funding of the following Ivy Tech priority list of capital projects statewide during the next Biennium (2 years. The Ivy Tech projects. The funding   recommendations approved by the State Budget Committee for the next 2 years will be sent to the State Legislature later in the year.

Ivy-Tech facilities located inKokomo, Gary, Columbus, Ft. Wayne and Sellersburg capital projects have been approved for funding.

Ivy Tech-Evansville medical facility was totally left out of the Biennium budget!

Rep. Messer Urges Dept. of Education To Restore Pell Grant Eligibility To ITT Tech Students

WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2016) — Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) is urging the U.S. Department of Education to restore Pell Grant eligibility to approximately 16,000 students nationwide who were using the grants to attend ITT Technical Institute when it abruptly closed last month.

Federal Pell Grants are provided to low-income students pursuing postsecondary education, and lifetime eligibility for the need-based grants is limited.

The Department of Education is currently telling former ITT Tech students it will not restore or “reset” their Pell Grant eligibility, leaving many of these students with few options to finish their degrees.

“For many low-income students, Pell Grants are their best shot to attend college and secure a better future for themselves,” Messer said. “ITT Tech closed largely at the hand of federal bureaucrats at the Education Department, and for them to now leave these students high-and-dry is a disgrace.”

In a letter sent to the Education Department, Messer urged the Department to immediately reverse its decision so that these students are not harmed and questioned why the Department is not using its statutory authority to take such action.

According to U.S. House of Representatives legal counsel, Section 437(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act requires the Education Department to restore Pell Grant benefits for students who are unable to complete their course of study due to the closure of an institution.

“It’s frustrating that the Department did not do its homework to ensure students were protected and had options before taking action against ITT Tech,” Messer said. “Students should not be blamed for this closure, and we must do everything we can to ensure they have the opportunity to continue their education.”

Based in Indiana, ITT Tech operated 130 campuses nationwide and served about 40,000 students when it announced on Sept. 6, 2016 that it would close. The announcement followed an Aug. 25 decision by the Education Department to prohibit the institution from enrolling new students using federal student aid.

Messer has also authored a bill that would allow veterans to recover their GI Bill educational benefits if they were using their benefits at a college or university that closes, preventing them from completing their degree.

The bill (H.R. 6003) would apply to the nearly 7,000 veterans who were enrolled at ITT Tech at the time it closed.