Evening star., 1947-12-27
Plan 10 Merge Boards
|0f I Virginia Medical
Schools Hit by Expert
BY the Axseeiafad Rreks


RICHMOND. Va. Dec. 27.-Dr.
Alan Gregg, director of the division
of medical sciences Of the Rocke-
feller Foundation, yesterday rec.
commended rejection of a proposal
that the boards of Virginia's two
medical schools be merged and
made three suggestions for improve-
ment in the existing administrative
system.
The expert on medical school and
hospital administration was asked
by Gov. Tuck to study conditions
which have led to large deficits this
year at the Medical College Of Vir.
ginia in Richmond and the Uni
versity Of Virginia's Medical School
at Charlottesville. The Governor
said he believed economies could be
effected by some form of merger.
In his report to the Governor, DR..
Gregg reviewed proposals for the
future Of the institutions and COM
mented upon each OF them.
Asks Budget Revision.
DR.. Gregg's major recommends
tions for immediate action were that
few trustees be appointed to serve
simultaneously on the boards of
both institutions, that the seriously
misleading" system Of budgeting
now in use be abandoned, and that
fiscal control of the schools be
placed under a new board Of medical
care or under the wing of the State
Health Department.
The Rockefeller consultant EN-.
phasized throughout his report that
deficits at the two institutions should
not be blamed on medical educa.
tion, but should be credited to in.
f1ated expenses Of operating hos.
pitals.
During the war, conditions Of
spurious and only temporary
financial prosperity" existed for Vir-
ginia's two medical schools, DR..
Gregg said.
Supports Virginia U. School
DR.. Gregg criticized the present
budgeting system which lists hos
pltal maintenance as education and
said it fools the public into think
ing it is spending big money for
medical education when it Is not.
Calling medical care higher educa-
tion evades fact that any civilized
community must face, that is, the
cost of caring for its sick poor" he
added.
Such budgeting quite naturally
embitters other schools IN the Uni
versity Of Virginia who assume that
medical education is devourlng their
rightful share of the funds for
higher education. Such pudgeting
misleads the public and exasperates
those who know the real situation"
DR.. Gregg said he found no argu-
ment to favor abandonment of
State support for the University Of
Virginia medical school and, on the
contrary, said that medical educa-
tion was ideally situated" in an
environment such as that at Char
lottesville.
End Of Research Aid Seen.
He said also that there would be
no economy now IN disseminating
present State support to the Medical
College OF Virginia unless the Com
was prepared for the
large capital outlays that would be
required to move the colleges Of
dentistry, pharmacy and nursing to
Charlottesville. But, he went on,
the State might look forward to
ceasing its support of MCV's teach
ing and research activities at some
time in the future without any
abrupt or inconsiderate abandon
ment."
The proposal that the board Of
trustees be merged and the schools
left intact has nothing compre-
hensible to support it" he said, and
such step would effect no econo-
mics in the budgets OF schools whose
deficits do not come from the costs
of teaching or research or admins
tration.