CONTACT: Doug Carlson (850) 694-3735 or
Randall Bertolette, M.D., (772) 462-7041

By Doug Carlson
June 20, 2007

FORT PIERCE, Fla. − Starting July 2, Fort Pierce residents visiting the same physicians they’ve gone to for years might be greeted in the waiting room for the first time by a sign indicating that their doctor is now a teacher.

Next week is the official beginning of the Florida State University Regional Medical School Campus – Fort Pierce, which is in the process of selecting more than 150 Treasure Coast area physicians to teach eight clinical specialties: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, surgery and emergency medicine, as well as a variety of fourth-year electives.

“The FSU College of Medicine students will be acquiring knowledge amongst a committed, enthusiastic, and motivated group of doctors in Indian River and St. Lucie Counties who are taking time out of their busy practices to participate,’’ said Dr. Jeff Livingston, president of the Indian River County Medical Society.

“I think the medical students will benefit from the real-world experience of seeing how medicine is practiced in the community setting. I have no doubt local physicians and patients will also benefit by participating in the process.’’

The initial group of eight third-year students, who will be training in the Fort Pierce area for the next two years, are the first wave in what will grow to a group of 20 new medical students a year.

At full capacity, the medical school’s Fort Pierce campus will be home to 20 third-year students and 20 fourth-year students, for a total of 40 students. Students complete the first two years of their education on the FSU campus in Tallahassee.

Perhaps the greatest impact of the program will be in helping Fort Pierce area hospitals, medical practices, health departments and other health-care facilities recruit future doctors. In the Treasure Coast area, FSU is affiliated with Indian River Medical Center, Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Martin Memorial Health Systems and St. Lucie Medical Center.

“It’s going to be a win-win situation. I think our students will benefit by the expertise in the community and the doctors who teach them will learn and benefit from the students during the process,’’ said Dr. Randall Bertolette, regional campus dean for the Fort Pierce campus.

“There has never been a medical school presence in this area and there’s an underlying excitement on that basis because a lot of these physicians do want to teach and this will give them a chance they thought they wouldn’t get,’’ Bertolette said.

The medical school also is launching a new regional campus this week in Daytona Beach for third- and fourth-year clinical education.

The FSU College of Medicine was established in 2000 with a mission of educating physicians to care for Florida’s rural, geriatric, minority, and other medically underserved populations. With three graduating classes to date, the college has produced 111 doctors who currently are completing three to five years of required residency training.

CONTACT: Christi Morgan, (850) 644-2788; cmorgan@law.fsu.edu
Doug Carlson, (850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

By Jill Elish
September 2007

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State University’s colleges of law and medicine are among the best in the nation for Hispanics, according to Hispanic Business magazine. The rankings appear in the September issue.

For the second year in a row, the magazine has named the FSU College of Law the sixth best in the nation in its annual rankings. It’s the fourth year in a row that the law school has been ranked in the Top 10. The FSU College of Medicine, founded in 2000, made the Top 10 list for the first time this year, ranking ninth.

“We’re very pleased that Hispanic Business magazine has recognized FSU’s medical and law schools,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Lawrence G. Abele. “This speaks both to the quality of FSU’s programs and our commitment to encouraging a diverse community where all of our students can thrive.”

The magazine considered a variety of factors in determining its rankings, including the percentage of Hispanic students enrolled, the percentage of full-time Hispanic faculty, services for Hispanic students, Hispanic recruitment efforts and retention rates and reputation as reflected in U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 edition of “Best Graduate Schools.”

For the 2006-2007 academic year, Hispanics made up 8 percent of the law school’s 765-member student body and received 19 of the 245 law degrees awarded to the Class of 2007. Seven percent of full-time faculty members are Hispanic.

“Because other schools have even more Hispanic students and faculty than we do, it is our reputation for academic excellence that puts us over the top,” said College of Law Dean Donald Weidner.

FSU’s law school has Hispanics in key faculty and administrative positions, Weidner said. Fernando Tesón holds the Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar Chair and Manuel Utset is the Charles W. Ehrhardt Professor. Associate Dean for Students Nancy Benavides runs the school’s Summer for Undergraduates Program and other academic support initiatives. The law school hosts programs and events geared toward recruiting Hispanics and has several student organizations that provide mentoring and peer support for current Hispanic students.

At the College of Medicine, 12 percent of the 284 students are Hispanic, and Hispanics received four of the 36 medical degrees awarded in 2007. Eight percent of the college’s full-time faculty members are Hispanic.

Part of the College of Medicine’s mission is to develop doctors who are responsive to community needs, especially through service to elder, rural, minority and underserved populations. All of the college’s students take courses in cross-cultural medicine and medical Spanish and have opportunities to actively participate in research focused on culturally appropriate delivery of health care. FSUCares, the largest student outreach program at the College of Medicine, takes dozens of students on medical mission trips each spring to work with Spanish-speaking patients in communities in rural Florida, along the Texas-Mexico border and in Panama.

“The Hispanic population in Florida is growing, and the need for more Hispanic physicians is growing along with it,” said College of Medicine Dean J. Ocie Harris. “We’re pleased that our efforts to make the College of Medicine a desirable destination for Hispanic medical students is being recognized and hope that it will help us achieve our goal of producing physicians to meet medical needs in the Hispanic community. By doing so, these doctors will provide an invaluable service to all Floridians.’’

The Florida State University College of Medicine is ranked second in the nation for the percentage of its graduating doctors who choose to specialize in family medicine, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Over a three-year period, 19 percent of FSU College of Medicine graduates have entered family medicine residencies, trailing only the University of Kansas School of Medicine (22 percent). No other medical school in Florida rated in the top 50. The AAFP tracks the success of U.S. allopathic and osteopathic medical schools in producing doctors who select family medicine residencies, and the journal Family Medicine publishes the results annually.

"We're pleased that our progress in meeting one of Florida's most significant health care challenges is being recognized," said College of Medicine Dean J. Ocie Harris. "This is an indication that we have been successful identifying students who share our mission and who understand the important role family practitioners play in our health care system."

In addition to its three-year success, FSU tied Marshall University among U.S. medical schools with the largest percentage of graduates (22.2 percent) entering family medicine residency programs over the past year.

This is the first time the FSU College of Medicine, which graduated its first class in 2005, has been eligible for inclusion. Part of the college's mission is to answer the call for more primary care physicians in Florida, where there is an increasing shortage, especially in rural areas. Florida will need an additional 12,000 primary care physicians by 2020 due to population growth and ongoing changes in the state's physician workforce, according to an AAFP study.

"As the state of Florida faces the daunting challenge of having to recruit nearly 12,000 primary care physicians by 2020 to meet its growing primary health care access needs, it is refreshing that one of the state's public medical schools is embracing that challenge," said Tad Fisher, executive vice-president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians (FAFP).

Outreach efforts at FSU started with the Program in Medical Sciences (PIMS), begun by the Legislature in 1971 at FSU to help fill a void of physicians practicing in rural Northwest Florida.

"We recognized from the start the need for outreach and a pipeline of students who are responsive to community needs, especially through service to elder, rural, minority and underserved populations," said Dr. Daniel Van Durme, professor and chair of the department of family medicine and rural health at the FSU College of Medicine. "Our curriculum has many opportunities for students to be taught by family physicians in the medical school and community settings, thus establishing role models and mentors."

The role models and mentors include three College of Medicine faculty members who have been named Florida Family Physician of the Year by the FAFP over the past four years.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that primary care from a family physician results in higher quality and lower cost health care than with specialty care. Family physicians diagnose and treat more than 90 percent of all patient problems, including biological and mental health concerns. Studies also show a greater effectiveness by specialists when patients are referred by a family physician.

Nationally, the number of medical school graduates choosing family medicine has declined in recent years. Reasons cited range from lifestyle preferences and steadily declining Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates to increasing student debt and better income opportunities and more control of work hours in other specialties.

"Floridians need family physicians, internists practicing primary care, and pediatricians to ensure they have a 'medical home' that can and will care for them as they age," Fisher said. "The FSU College of Medicine is to be applauded for its leadership and dedication to making sure Floridians have access to primary care physicians and a medical home they can count on."

By Doug Carlson

CONTACT:
Doug Carlson
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu
Cell:(850) 694-3735

By Doug Carlson
November 22, 2007

Health care for the elderly in northern Florida, southern Alabama and southern Georgia is about to get better with a $1.2 million Geriatric Education Center grant involving departments at Florida State University, Florida A&M University and the University of South Alabama.

The FSU College of Medicine department of geriatrics led a collaborative effort with other colleges, schools and departments at FSU, FAMU and USA to obtain the three-year grant to fund a network collectively referred to as the Live Oak GEC. The consortium will provide geriatrics training at various sites in the Panhandle, southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama for providers in professions such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, rehabilitation therapies and social work.

Older patients are the highest users of health care services, medications, nursing home stays and hospitalizations, yet health-care providers of all types have received inadequate training in geriatrics. Each of the three states involved in the GEC has fewer geriatricians per capita than the national average. And like the rest of the country, the region faces severe shortages of nurse practitioners, pharmacists, social workers and other allied health professionals with special training in geriatrics.

"While it is unlikely there will ever be enough geriatric specialists in every field of health care, an achievable goal is to ensure that all providers have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide quality care for older people," said Dr. Kenneth Brummel-Smith, GEC project director and the Charlotte Edwards Maguire professor and chair of the FSU College of Medicine's department of geriatrics.

Funded by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, Geriatric Education Centers serve local communities by strengthening multidisciplinary training of health professionals in assessment, chronic disease syndromes, care planning and cultural competence unique to older Americans.

Since 1985, GECs nationwide have trained more than 450,000 health care professionals from all disciplines to better serve the rapidly expanding older adult population. About 50 funded Geriatric Education Centers, including another in Florida at the University of Miami, have been reestablished under recently renewed federal funding.

The Live Oak GEC will differ from the others by focusing on health-care providers that serve rural and urban underserved and minority elders. FSU College of Medicine regional campuses are among the sites where training will take place.

While initially the GEC will seek to educate faculty in the participating institutions, ultimately these trained faculty will help strengthen the geriatrics expertise of providers in their own local health-care communities collaborating as interdisciplinary teams.

In particular, the FSU College of Medicine will be offering expanded geriatrics training opportunities to affiliated community physicians in all specialties and to other health-care professionals at the regional campuses.

FSU's participating departments include the lead institution, the College of Medicine, and the College of Social Work. In addition, faculty from the department of Food, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences of the College of Human Sciences; the department of Communication Disorders of the College of Communication; the College of Education and the Pepper Institute for Aging and Social Policy are involved.

Partners from FAMU are the School of Allied Health Sciences, the School of Nursing and the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The partner at the University of South Alabama is the College of Nursing.

Brummel-Smith previously served as the medical director of the Oregon Health Sciences University GEC and as president of the American Geriatrics Society. Dr. Alice Pomidor, associate project director, is an associate professor of geriatrics at FSU and previously served as primary faculty in the Western Reserve GEC in Ohio.

CONTACT:
Doug Carlson
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu
Cell:(850) 694-3735

By Doug Carlson
November 22, 2007

The largest set of information ever collected about Florida's physician workforce suggests there are far fewer doctors practicing in the state than previously believed, according to Florida State University College of Medicine researchers.

Data collected through a voluntary survey of physicians renewing their state license in 2007 indicates approximately 34,000 physicians regularly practice in Florida. Previous estimates had the number closer to 50,000.

"These preliminary results from surveying practicing doctors have major implications for the people of Florida. The results show the importance of expanding medical education both at the medical school and residency level,' said Dr. Robert Brooks, associate dean for health affairs at the FSU College of Medicine. Brooks teamed with Nir Menachemi, director of the Center on Patient Safety at the College of Medicine, to conduct the survey.

Their study, which provides the first broad-ranging snapshot of the Florida physician workforce, was published in Florida Medical Magazine. Among the trends Brooks and Menachemi detected:

13 percent of physicians in Florida plan to leave or significantly reduce practice within the next five years. The mean age of survey respondents was 51, indicating an aging workforce that could be severely affected by attrition through retirement in the not-too-distant future.

Less than 5 percent of practicing physicians in Florida are African-American. Asian physicians made up 11 percent of the survey respondent total, and Hispanics constituted 15 percent of the total response.

"Florida's population is approximately 14 percent African-American, yet only 5 percent of the responding doctors were from this racial group," Brooks said. "This trend, which is also evident nationally, must be aggressively addressed to improve the major gaps in access to care and health outcomes that are sadly still prominent in our healthcare system for this group.'

For years statewide advocacy groups including medical educators and the Florida Medical Association have urged the state to compile a physician workforce database. However, policymakers were handicapped by spotty and incomplete data during recent legislative debates on such issues as medical liability and medical school expansion.

Such blind spots are about to be significantly reduced. First, former Gov. Jeb Bush urged the state Department of Health to develop a voluntary survey of physicians, which was included in re-licensure application materials sent to physicians before their January 2007 renewal. Second, the Florida Legislature passed a law earlier this year requiring physicians to provide details about their practice and practice patterns during license renewal, starting in January 2008. In Florida, about 50 percent of the state's allopathic physicians renew their licenses in a given year. Brooks and Menachemi completed their analysis using the 2007 voluntary survey.

Of the 24,840 physicians who went through renewal in 2007, 88 percent (22,035) responded to the survey. Of those, more than 5,000 (23 percent) do not have a practice address in Florida and were excluded from the survey results.

"Previous estimates of the numbers of doctors in Florida included the many doctors who hold a Florida license but currently do not actually practice in the state," Menachemi said. "By excluding these doctors from the analysis we get a much more accurate view of the physician services available to help care for Florida's population."

Extrapolating the accumulated data of the 15,518 responding physicians with a Florida practice address helped Menachemi and Brooks glean interesting and previously unknown trends in the state's physician workforce. For example, more than 22 percent of responding general surgeons in Broward, Orange and Polk counties said they intend to leave or significantly reduce practice within five years. In Polk County, more than 21 percent of surgical specialists, anesthesiologists and pathologists also are planning to leave or significantly reduce practice by 2012.

Statewide, an average of more than 14 percent of respondents indicated a similar planned reduction or departure from all of the following specialties: radiology, surgical specialties, family medicine, pathology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology and general surgery.

Patients are more likely to have better health outcomes if they are treated at hospitals using information technology (IT) systems, according to a comprehensive new Florida State University study.

The study compared overall IT adoption with patient discharge data at 98 hospitals across Florida, providing the most comprehensive analysis to date of the relationship between information technology use and health outcomes. The study appears in the November/December issue of the Journal of Healthcare Management.

"We found that the more information systems adopted at a given hospital, the better that hospital performed on a variety of important patient outcome measures,' said Nir Menachemi, lead author of the study and director of the Center on Patient Safety at the FSU College of Medicine.

Preventing medical errors and improving patient safety are among the most important potential advantages of adopting IT in health care. Previous studies at select academic medical centers have demonstrated that the use of individual IT applications, such as computerized order entry and clinical decision support systems, are associated with desirable health outcomes. However, academic medical centers are not typical of most U.S. hospitals, and it was not clear if the results of those studies could be generalized to hospitals across the country.

The FSU study examined a large sample of hospitals, public and private, rural and urban, and used widely accepted patient safety indicators to measure the effect of IT systems on patient outcomes. The study supported Menachemi's hypothesis that hospitals with more sophisticated IT infrastructures would perform best on a set of patient safety indicators.

"Our study is the first to link the use of IT to improved outcomes across a large number of community hospitals,' Menachemi said. "The evidence we found is a compelling reason for hospitals to make sure they are utilizing the most up-to-date information systems.'

Deaths as a result of post-operative blood infections have doubled in the United States over the past 20 years. However, such deaths decreased for patients in hospitals using IT systems in the treatment process, as did deaths from post-operative respiratory failure and other infections.

Such conditions can be prevented when clinicians have up-to-date patient information, standardized medical order sets and evidence-based guidelines on best treatment procedures. Menachemi found that hospitals properly using IT networks are best able to ensure that clinicians receive critical information at the point of care to assist physicians in adhering to proven clinical guidelines.

The study examined three categories of IT use that affect various aspects of hospital operations: administrative, clinical and strategic. Administrative operations included those IT systems used in billing, payroll and supply chain management. Clinical operations included pharmacy and laboratory, computerized physician order entry and electronic health records. Strategic operations involved systems used for mamanaged care, nurse staffing and executive information.

By Doug Carlson

CONTACT: Doug Carlson
(850) 645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

By Doug Carlson
Feb. 13, 2008

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida State University College of Medicine is working to help reduce health disparities among Gadsden County children through a project funded by FSU Dance Marathon, which is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center.

The College of Medicine has been working with the Gadsden County Department of Health and Gadsden County School District to expand services in student health centers at James A. Shanks Middle School and George W. Munroe Elementary School in Quincy.

Last year, 1,400 FSU student volunteers raised $315,000 through Dance Marathon. Proceeds from the annual event are split evenly between the FSU College of Medicine and the Children’s Miracle Network. Funds raised through the 2008 Dance Marathon once again will be used to fund pediatric outreach efforts of the College of Medicine, such as the project in Gadsden County schools.

College of Medicine faculty members have been working part time in the school-based health centers since last fall, expanding the clinics to include full-service primary care, as well as mental health services.

The College of Medicine welcomed Susan LaJoie, a nurse practitioner with more than 23 years of experience, to its faculty in January. LaJoie is assigned to oversee clinical operations in the Gadsden school health centers on a full-time basis.

In addition, medical school faculty, FSU medical students and psychology graduate students work in the health centers on a part-time basis. Involvement affords the students the opportunity to experience an integrated model of clinical and behavioral health-care services in a community setting.

Compared to most other counties in Florida, residents of Gadsden County have more health care problems and fewer treatment options.

“Rates of teen pregnancy, heart disease, obesity and diabetes are far higher in Gadsden County than for the rest of Florida," said Dr. Maggie Blackburn, assistant professor of family medicine and rural health at the College of Medicine. “School-based health clinics have been shown to provide a health-care safety net for school-age children, so we believe this project will have a measurable impact."

Gadsden County also has an infant-mortality rate double the national average and higher than that of 75 countries.

However, data suggest that early intervention, preventive care and health education could improve some of these health outcomes. The College of Medicine’s involvement is consistent with its mission in several ways, including the improvement of access to primary care and mental health services for a medically underserved population, and providing service-oriented learning opportunities for faculty and students.

CONTACT: Nancy Kinnally
(850) 644-7824

By Nancy Kinnally
Feb. 20, 2008

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Two local retired physicians have joined forces with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare to provide $2.5 million worth of enhancements to the Florida State University College of Medicine, including a new center where medical students will learn using high-tech patient simulators.

The Charlotte E. Maguire, M.D. and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Center for Clinical Simulation is equipped with mannequins that can simulate a variety of conditions, from wheezing to a heart murmur to cardiac arrest, enabling students to learn how to react to the unexpected in a no-risk environment.

“This new center represents a significant advancement in our clinical skills education and will serve to complement our outstanding and innovative Clinical Learning Center,” said Dr. J. Ocie Harris, dean of the College of Medicine. “We are so grateful to Dr. Maguire and to TMH for making this possible.”

The center, which goes into operation this week, honors Maguire, a benefactor of both the hospital and the medical school, and was made possible through a $750,000 gift from the TMH Foundation that was matched by the state of Florida for a total gift of $1.5 million.

“The Maguire-TMH Clinical Simulation Center will offer the residents in the TMH Family Medicine Residency Program and -- in any future additional TMH residency programs -- the opportunity to learn advanced procedures and protocols in a no-risk environment,” said Paula Fortunas, president and CEO of the TMH Foundation.

Dr. Maguire’s friend and colleague, Dr. Laurie L. Dozier Jr., has funded a $2 million charitable remainder annuity trust for the ultimate benefit of TMH and the College of Medicine. When the funds are received, FSU will establish the Laurie L. Dozier Jr., M.D. Endowed Professorship. Under present state of Florida provisions, the Dozier Professorship will be eligible for state of Florida matching funds.

A Leon County native, Dozier earned his medical degree from Duke University in 1955 and practiced internal medicine and cardiology in Tallahassee from 1960 to 1991. He was co-founder of Cardiology Associates, which later became Southern Medical Group.

The Laurie L. Dozier Jr., M.D. Endowed Professorship will serve as a tribute not only to his work, but also to that of his daughter, Sarah Dozier Sherraden, director of the Clinical Learning Center, where medical students learn patient interviewing and examination skills by working with people who have been trained to portray specific medical cases.

“We have been so fortunate since our founding to have Sarah Sherraden as the director of our Clinical Learning Center, and we want to thank Dr. Dozier for ensuring the continuation of the tradition of excellence Sarah has helped establish for clinical education at the FSU College of Medicine,” Harris said.

The Charlotte E. Maguire, M.D. and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Center for Clinical Simulation is directed by Dr. Stephen Quintero, assistant professor of family medicine and rural health.

“This yet another outstanding example of the positive partnership between TMH and the FSU College of Medicine,” said Mark O’Bryant, TMH president and CEO.

CONTACT: Nancy Kinnally
(850) 644-7824

By Nancy Kinnally
February 25, 2008

With a four-year, $707,000 grant from the American Cancer Society, Yanchang Wang, assistant professor of biomedical sciences in the Florida State University College of Medicine, hopes to learn how a particular enzyme could possibly help put the brakes on the runaway cell division process that occurs in many forms of cancer.

Wang's research involves the role of an enzyme known as Cdc14 in deactivating the cell division process set in motion by another enzyme, Cdk1.

"From this proposed experiment, we expect to find a new way to regulate cell division," Wang said. "Cdk1 is the key driving force for cell division, so it's quite important."

The enzymes Wang is studying are part of the cellular signaling processes that protect genes and chromosomes when cells divide, ensuring that the number of chromosomes in each new cell is precisely correct. This process is critical in that an abnormal number of chromosomes can lead ultimately to cancer.

Wang conducts his experiments on yeast because it abides by the same regulatory processes during cell division as human cells.

"Yeast is a single cell, but it is really powerful and it will answer different kinds of biological questions, especially for the regulation of cell division," Wang said.

With the addition of this new grant, Wang has now attracted more than $1.3 million in external research funding since arriving at the Florida State University College of Medicine in 2003 as one of the first faculty recruited to the college's department of biomedical sciences.

The American Cancer Society grant follows a $441,000 grant from the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program and a $240,000 grant from the American Heart Association, with which Wang laid the groundwork for his newest hypothesis.

Myra Hurt, associate dean for research and graduate programs, said Wang is one of only about two dozen Florida researchers to receive funding from the American Cancer Society this year.

"At the beginning of the 21st century, in spite of more than 30 years of the most intense biomedical research the world has ever known, cancer remains a major cause of death in our country," Hurt said. "The hope is that Dr. Wang's research will uncover new therapeutic targets and diagnostic tools for cancer treatment and prevention."

CONTACT: Nancy Kinnally
(850) 644-7824

By Nancy Kinnally
March 19, 2008

The newest campus of the Florida State University College of Medicine got its start through the generosity of the late Isabel Collier Read, who was memorialized recently at the grand opening ceremony at the Immokalee, Fla., campus named for her.

"Mrs. Isabel Collier Read got all of this started, and it is largely thanks to her perseverance and support that this project has finally come to fruition," said FSU President T.K. Wetherell. "She did a great thing not just for FSU, but for all of the children of Immokalee who will live healthier lives as a result."

Medical school faculty and students will provide pediatric and maternal/infant care in collaboration with Collier Health Services Inc. (CHS) at the Isabel Collier Read Medical Campus, which was made possible by three separate gifts totaling $10 million. The campus is the largest donor-funded initiative in the seven-year history of FSU's medical school.

Read, who passed away Feb. 5 at her home in Palm Beach at age 89, initially donated a clinical facility now valued at $7 million to NCH Healthcare in an effort to ensure that the medical needs of the community's farm workers and other underserved residents would be met. NCH Healthcare in turn donated the building to FSU last year for the creation of the Isabel Collier Read Medical Campus.

Read also endowed the medical school's educational program in Immokalee with an additional gift of $1 million, which is eligible for a $750,000 match from the state.

Then, in December 2007, the Naples Children and Education Foundation (NCEF) granted $2 million to the College of Medicine to fund renovations to a 29,000-square-foot medical clinic.

The gift from NCEF also is eligible for state matching funds, which could push the combined value of all three gifts to nearly $13 million.

"These three gifts have given us the ability to create a truly first-class facility for the women and children of Immokalee," said Dr. J. Ocie Harris, dean of the College of Medicine. "The hospital, Mrs. Read and NCEF came together to essentially double the existing capacity for pediatric and pre-natal services at CHS. It's a wonderful legacy for Mrs. Read."

Students from the medical school's six regional campuses throughout the state will have the opportunity to fulfill several third-year required and fourth-year elective rotations in Immokalee, gaining a more complete understanding of rural medicine while contributing to the health of the community.

CHS, which operates the neighboring Marion E. Fether Medical Center, has relocated its pediatrics practice to the Isabel Collier Read Medical Campus and will handle clinic management, including patient enrollment. CHS also will relocate its obstetrics/gynecology practice to the Isabel Collier Read Medical Campus in 2009, once the build-out of 13,000 feet of shell space is complete. The pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology clinics combined will have more than 40 exam rooms.