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Austin Business Journal, Feb. 8, 2008

On Monday, members of the Austin Chamber of Commerce will discuss the results of an economic study they commissioned from the Perryman Group on the impact of a university-related medical school in the Austin area. UTMB has approximately 100 residents practicing in hospitals around Austin.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Economic impact of Austin medical school to be unveiled

Austin Business Journal

On Monday, members of the Austin Chamber of Commerce will discuss the results of an economic study they commissioned from the Perryman Group on the impact of a university-related medical school in the Austin area.

The study, commissioned in 2007, examines how a medical school would affect different industries in Central Texas. Nan Matthews, senior vice president of communications for the Austin chamber, says the chamber can't release any information about the study's specific findings before Monday's event. But Matthews says the study doesn't link the impact of a potential medical school to any one university, and instead takes a more general view of a medical school's effects in association with any top-tier university.

The conference, conducted by leaders of the Opportunity Austin initiative, will take place on Feb. 11 in the Austin city hall council chambers. Speakers will include: Austin Chamber Chair Joe Holt; Opportunity Austin Chair and President Gary Farmer; Ray Perryman, principal with The Perryman Group; Sen. Kirk Watson; Austin Mayor Will Wynn; Seton Family of Hospitals CEO Charles Barnett and St. David's HealthCare CEO Jon Foster.

Both Texas A&M University and the University of Texas System have been discussing the future of academic medicine in Central Texas. A&M's Health Science Center has plans to develop a third and fourth year academic medical campus on 50 acres in Round Rock, which A&M officials say may eventually turn into a 4-year medical school. The University of Texas Medical Branch has approximately 100 residents practicing in hospitals around Austin and the UT System has commissioned a feasibility study from UT Southwestern Medical School about the possibility of that branch building a medical school in Austin.