GAINESVILLE – The Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s position as a leader in the growth of health care services in the state is taking another step forward. Thursday afternoon officials at NGMC announced plans to begin a residency program commencing in 2019.
Known as GME, or Graduate Medical Education, NGHS President and CEO Carol Burrell explained to members of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce at their monthly meeting exactly what GME is.
“GME starts after a person finishes medical school,” Burrell said. “So when they come to us they will actually be in effect physicians, looking to then fulfill their residency for a period of four-plus years.”
“Residencies are essentially hands-on training in a number of specialties,” she added.
Six areas of specialty will be initially offered according to Dr. Sam Johnson, Chief Medical Officer for NGMC: internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, OB/GYN, psychiatry and emergency medicine.
As to where residents will be trained, Johnson said the Gainesville hospital would not be the sole facility involved in the program. “We’ll also be at Braselton and, as we are acquiring Barrow, I’m sure we’ll have residents at Barrow as well, and more than likely anything else that comes our way.”
He added, “There will also be residents assigned to offices, they will be in the community through ambulatory settings as well.”
Burrell said that residency will also involve some classroom settings. “We’re actually mapping that out right now, looking at our entire master facility plan to see where those locations might be, because there is other training as well.”
Tim Evans, Vice President of Economic Development for the GHCC said the projected fiscal impact to the area will be considerable.
“In September…we reached out to the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (at the University of Georgia) to help us quantify the economic impact of the NGMC Graduate Medical Education program.” Evans said.
“The initial year (2019) the program could see as many as 33 residents…those positions would bring with them an estimated labor income of over $10-million,” Evans said. “That is a significant boost to our local economy.”
Evans added, “By the fifth year (2024) the GME could grow to 170 residents.”
Burrell said increasing residency opportunities in Georgia has been a goal of Governor Nathan Deal. “This is something he has set as a top priority, to increase the residency slots here in the state, so that we can retain those that are home-grown here.”
“There are statistics that say where physicians do their residency is where they will actually stay and practice,” Burrell said.
Deal said in a press release, “Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s vision for a new graduate medical education program is a significant step towards fulfilling my goal of 400 additional residency slots throughout Georgia.”
Deal said, “This program will benefit not only northeast Georgia, but the entire state.”
Deal’s sentiments are more than ethereal; they come with financial support, as well. NGMC has been awarded $4.5-million dollars in matching state funds to offset the estimated $9-million start-up costs of the new program.
