UVI Holding Town Halls to Discuss Medical School

In October, the University of the Virgin Islands will hold public town hall meetings to discuss the location of the proposed School of Medicine.

Earlier this month at a special UVI Board of Trustees meeting, President Dr. David Hall said that Board Chairman Henry Smock wanted to involve the public in discussions about the direction of what would be the territory’s first medical school–particularly its location.

The proposed medical school will be comprised of a facility that will house classrooms and another described as a state-of-the-art simulation center. In the Board of Trustees meeting, it was previously recommended that the classroom facility–considered to be the actual medical school–should be placed on St. Thomas and the simulation center be placed on St. Croix.

The town hall meetings will allow the public an opportunity to learn more about the process and give attendees a chance to present their questions or concerns.

The meetings will take place:

• Wednesday, Oct. 1, 6 to 8 p.m.– UVI’s Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix, Great Hall
• Thursday, Oct. 2, 6 to 8 p.m. – UVI’s St. Thomas Campus, Administration and Conference Center, Room 146 A

Presentations will be made by Hall and Interim Dean of the School of Medicine Dr. Benjamin Sachs. A question and answer session will follow the presentations. After the meetings have been conducted, UVI Board of Trustees will then make a final decision on where each facility will be located.

A medical school must be affiliated with an accredited hospital. Last Thursday, Dr. Kendall Griffith, interim CEO of the Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix, announced the hospital would lose its certification when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) withdraws its funding on Oct. 9. With CMS’s departure, the hospital will also loose its accreditation. A damning 112-page report from CMS released on Sunday detailed a host of deficiencies and serious violations at the Luis Hospital.