HOSPITALS JOIN FORCES FOR NEW PROGRAM

Cape Girardeau's two hospitals hope to serve as a training ground for medical and osteopathic, family practice doctors. It would be the first such residency program of its kind in the nation.

The program could be in operation within three years and aid in efforts to recruit such doctors to practice in Southeast Missouri, say those involved in the venture.

It could provide training for both University of Missouri medical school graduates and those from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Ted Groshong, associate dean for medical education at the University of Missouri's medical school in Columbia, says a combined residency program for medical and osteopathic doctors would be the first of its kind.

The Cape Girardeau area already has ties to the Kirksville school. Five of the school's students are completing their degree requirements with two years of training with Cape Girardeau area doctors and the two local hospitals.

Lois Kasten, executive director of the Cape Girardeau County Medical Society, said the students, who will finish their training in June 1995, work with doctors in everything from surgery to pediatrics.

The goal is to train doctors to serve in rural Missouri, she said.

Officials from the University of Missouri medical school, area doctors and hospital administrators met Monday in Cape Girardeau to discuss setting up a residency program.

"We are not talking about a second-rate program. If we are going to set it up, it is going to be a first-rate program," said Groshong.

John Fidler, St. Francis Medical Center president, said the timing is right.

Nationally, there is a shortage of family-practice doctors. Only about 20 percent of doctors in residency programs are going into family practice. National health care legislation is also focusing on the need to train more family doctors.

Groshong and hospital officials said in separate interviews Wednesday that a residency program could aid in recruiting primary care doctors to the area.

"From the perspective of Cape Girardeau, the best way to bring in the kind of physicians you want and to be assured of high quality is to be able to train them yourself," said Groshong.

He said the residency program could train as many as 12 doctors at any one time. A physician generally goes through three years of residency training, which is essential to obtaining hospital privileges.

Jim Wente, administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital, said the residency program could also involve the Sikeston, Perryville and Dexter hospitals. The three facilities, along with physicians and the two Cape Girardeau hospitals, recently formed the MedAmerica HealthNet group.

"I think it is a wonderful opportunity," said Wente, who stressed that discussions are in the preliminary stage. "It is a vision as to what we might be able to do here."

Wente said such a residency program would require the hiring of a medical director. The program also would need a minimum of three to four faculty members on site, he estimated.

Groshong said University of Missouri medical school faculty members on the Columbia campus could also lecture to Cape Girardeau participants via satellite television.

Under the program, a family practice center would be established, probably in Doctors' Park, Wente said.

Funding for the residency program could come from Medicare reimbursements for teaching hospitals, fees charged patients seen through the family practice center, federal grants and hospital contributions.

Wente insisted that the hospitals will contribute to the cost of running the residency program. "We are going to do this because this would be the best investment in the future for the community's health."