The Baton Rouge Area Foundation is proposing a four-year medical school and diabetes and obesity center in Baton Rouge, hiring consulting firm Perkins+Will Global to prepare a master plan with four key components to improve health care in the Baton Rouge area.
In this project, BRAF hopes to change the health care market by adding more options.
Beverly Moore, director of civic leadership initiatives for BRAF, said they plan to build a diabetes and obesity center as a flagship institution. Moore said the center will help identify the Baton Rouge health district as a world-class health provider.
Moore also said BRAF plans to add a four-year medical school that differs from other state schools.
The medical school will offer interdisciplinary joint degree programs. University students will be able to earn a medical degree and Ph.D. in engineering as a part of the same program.
“We really do think that Baton Rouge possesses the unique resources that would allow us to have a four-year medical school that is different than the other medical schools that are in Louisiana,” Moore said.
Moore said there are plans to train doctors in telemedicine — where doctors can treat patients over the phone.
Telemedicine allows for doctors to treat patients who live in rural communities. Louisiana has a high demand for this program as rural communities are located a considerable distance from health care providers.
Moore said there may be more than one university partnered with the medical school, but no decisions have been made.
“We certainly want to utilize the resources at LSU,” Moore said.
Biological sciences sophomore Tyriana Griffin, who plans to attend medical school, said many students go into college planning to attend medical school but give up on the idea a few years into their undergraduate studies.
Griffin said she believes students will be more likely to attend medical school if it is closer to the University’s campus. She also mentioned the inconvenience when University medical administrators visit campus from New Orleans.
“If there was a medical school in Baton Rouge, it would be a lot easier to get all the advice and necessary counseling we need to fill prerequisites to get into medical school,” Griffin said.
BRAF is making recommendations for new streets and ways to improve existing ones, including plans for jogging and bike paths as well as walking trails.
“There is obviously a link between physical activity and creating a healthier population here in Baton Rouge,” Moore said.
Moore said BRAF plans to increase collaboration among medical facilities in the event of a major natural disaster.
Health care institutions have improved their emergency facilities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but Moore said these institutions should enhance their facilities further.
“Most of this will take several years to come to full implementation, assuming we move pretty quickly,” Moore said.