DELAWARE - Thomas Jefferson University and the State of Delaware have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore building the state’s first four-year medical school a step state officials say could significantly expand health-care access in rural parts of Sussex and Kent counties.
For Sussex County resident Ted Foschi, expanded access can’t come soon enough.
"It took me three months to see a doctor," Foschi said.
Foschi moved to Sussex County from Wilmington and still drives up to an hour and a half for appointments, including a CAT scan last week.
"I’m keeping my doctors in Wilmington," he said. "Not that I haven’t tried to use doctors here."
He says long waitlists and limited availability in Sussex County make it difficult to get timely care.
"We need more facilities," Foschi said. "There is no way that, with all the retired people coming here, the existing facilities are enough to handle all of us."
The MOU between the Philadelphia-based university and the state was signed Oct. 29. The agreement outlines a phased collaboration aimed at building Delaware’s first-ever four-year medical school.
The announcement comes as Gov. Matt Meyer has applied for $1 billion in federal funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program to overhaul health care in rural Delaware. The governor said the proposal includes 15 projects among them the medical school and new mobile health-care units that would serve roughly 400,000 Delawareans in rural areas.
When asked by CoastTV about a potential location for the school, Meyer said state officials are "still working on it" and expect to know how much federal funding the state will receive by the end of the year.
Mila Myles, a spokeswoman for Meyer, said the state intends to keep its options open as it evaluates medical-school partners.
"Delaware needs a medical school sooner rather than later," Myles said. "Thomas Jefferson University has a strong track record of providing quality medical education to physicians across the Philadelphia area, and while we’re glad they’ve raised their hand to collaborate with the State of Delaware, the MOU is not exclusive, and we will run an open and transparent procurement process."