Medical college coming to Green Bay

GREEN BAY - To cheers from local leaders, the announcement was made: Green Bay is getting its own medical school.

Directors hope that educating doctors in Northeast Wisconsin will then help fill the shortage of medical staff in rural areas. So, the focus will be on training primary care, family practice doctors.

The hope is those new doctors will serve their residency and stay in the area.

The president of the college says community involvement drew the board to Northeast Wisconsin. He says the school is excited to partner with the strong medical community in the area.

"We would like to start between 15 and 20 students in the fall of 2015. We would like to have as many students as we can and have a quality education for them,” said Dr. John Raymond, the President of the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The Medical College of Wisconsin, based in Wauwatosa, says it worked closely with medical and community leaders since last August to finalize which communities the school would be expanding to.

"One of the reasons that we chose Green Bay because of the great deal of enthusiasm and the response we received from the strong health care system in the academic community but also the community at large,” said Raymond.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt says a site in town for the medical school has yet to be determined. But he sees this investment in higher education to be just the beginning.

"We’re talking medical right now, but there's pharmacy. There's other things that could happen or would happen here and this is just the first step today and I'm just delighted with the decision,” said Schmitt.

"We haven't decided where the physical location will be other than it will be in the Green Bay area. We'll be working with institutions to choose the site that makes the most sense for the students,” said Raymond.

The Medical College of Wisconsin expansions to both Green Bay and Mosinee are estimated to cost a total of $23 million. Both sites plan to use existing medical facilities at first, keeping tuition lower for students.

Medical students could be hitting the books here locally as soon as the summer of 2015. But, for some of their elective credits, they might have to take class in Wauwatosa. For now, the college has to work also work on hiring faculty and acquiring its accreditation.