Jobs impact moves higher for planned osteopathic college in Fort Smith

Total employment and the impact of that employment for the Fort Smith-based Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM) is greater than original estimates, and the college also has been granted pre-accreditation status by the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA).

Work began in February on the $32.4 million facility located in the Chaffee Crossing area. The osteopathic school will be housed in a three story, 102,000-square-foot building, and a fully operational osteopathic college is expected to serve about 600 students. Initial planning estimated that the new college would employ around 65 (full-time equivalent jobs) with an average salary of $103,000 – not including adjunct professors and other part-time support.

However, the employment estimate has moved up to 92 full-time equivalent jobs with an average total compensation of $116,000, according to Keith Fudge, director of community relations for the ARCOM. That’s almost $11 million direct annual payroll benefit for the Fort Smith metro economy.

Fudge said the main facility now under construction should be complete in April or June 2016, but it remains uncertain if the school will begin the first class in the fall of 2016 or 2017.

“Once Provisional accreditation is granted, the school will be allowed to begin the recruitment process,” Fudge noted in a statement to The City Wire.

The pre-accreditation approval moves the college closer to the point where it may recruit students. According to the COCA, the pre-accreditation status “is the second step in seeking accreditation by an applicant COM and is conferred with the privilege of recognition by the COCA, which will be publicly announced. Pre-accreditation status may be granted to COMs that demonstrate the planning and resources necessary to be expected to be able to proceed to Provisional accreditation within five (5) years.”

Dr. Kenneth Heiles, dean of the proposed ARCOM, said they are in the process of submitting an updated feasibility study and are preparing for another site visit from the accrediting commission.

“When the commission determines that all requirements have been met and grants Provisional Accreditation, the proposed ARCOM will then be able to recruit students and begin the admissions process,” noted the ARCOM press release.

Kyle Parker, president and CEO of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education, the parent organization of the ARCOM, has said the college is needed because of a growing U.S. physician shortage. That shortage is quantified in a March 2015 study commissioned by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The report, conducted by IHS Inc., shows that by 2025 the physician shortage will range between 46,000 and 90,000.

“The lower range of estimates would represent more aggressive changes secondary to the rapid growth in non-physician clinicians and widespread adoption of new payment and delivery models such as patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and accountable care organizations (ACOs),” noted a report summary.

Shortages in medical specialties by 2025 will vary. The report says the shortage of primary care physicians will range between 12,500 and 31,100, and non-primary care shortages will range between 28,200 and 63,700. In the non-primary care segment, there is an estimated shortage of 23,100 to 31,600 surgical specialists.

“Because physician training can take up to a decade, a physician shortage in 2025 is a problem that needs to be addressed in 2015,” noted the report summary.