Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com January 5, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 7 UMMS would also build a 100,000-square-foot building on the side of the campus abutting Route 9 and lease a large part of it to the VA health care system. It has the authority to lease up to 40,000 square feet under a bill passed by Congress to improve veterans' access to health care. This would boost the system's clinical capacity in Worcester since an outpatient clinic on Lincoln Street is too small (25,000 square feet) to serve current needs. Col. John Collins, who joined the Central Western Massachusetts Health Care System in September after retiring as chief of military health care in Europe, said one of his top goals is to increase the number of veterans that the local VA health care system treats; so, increasing space and the scope of services is a pressing need. The Lincoln Street clinic, which pro- vides limited specialty services, treats about 7,000 area veterans but there are about 50,000 living in Worcester County alone, the highest among the counties Collins oversees, he said. Not all of the 50,000 are eligible for VA health care benefits (veterans are usually eligible if they have a service-related illness or condition, or meet low-income guide- lines), but Collins said many eligible veterans don't use the clinic. "Our penetration of that market has a lot of opportunity if we can increase our services," Collins said. Increased services are a key ingredient to meet the health care needs of more local veterans. Under a separate, yet com- plementary, project, the VA plans to expand into a 13,000-square-foot annex in Biotech Park on the UMMS campus. Audiology services will be added, and podiatry and optometry relocated from Lincoln Street. It will also house an expanded research program, a collabora- tion between the VA and UMMS. The project has already been approved, Collins said, and is expected to be com- plete in September. Meanwhile, the larger facility and joint venture under review have been received favorably, according to Dr. Michael Mayo-Smith, director of the VA New England Health Care System, which includes Central Western Massachusetts. But the joint venture is the first of its kind,and subject to a thorough review, he said, now that a letter of intent has been approved by VA leaders in Washington. Mayo-Smith said there have been similar joint ventures involving the VA, but UMMS and the local VA system are blazing a new trail because no similar arrangement has ever been established with an academic medical school. "We're very optimistic, but a decision hasn't been made," Mayo-Smith said. The proposal was submitted in September and a decision is expected within six months, according to Mayo- Smith. The other factor is the lease for the facility UMMS plans to build. The local VA health care system has the authority to move forward with that, but the VA's planned lease is subject to an open-bid- ding process since it's a government contract. The joint venture doesn't stip- ulate that UMMS lease the space to the VA, though that's the school's intent. UMMS has proposed moving the state Department of Transportation's regional offices, located at the edge of the campus next to Route 9, elsewhere on the cam- pus to make room for the new facility. Mayo-Smith said a private firm, for example, could submit a bid to build and lease the facility to the VA, but one crite- rion is that the space lend itself to plans for the clinical venture with the school. Medical school chancellor Collins said planning will begin as soon as the VA approves the venture. He expressed excitement at the prospect of improving access and learning opportunities for students, especially in light of the Veterans Affairs report released in May that detailed how poor management at many VA clinics across the U.S. resulted in lengthy wait times, and in some cases, deaths. The Central Western Massachusetts system, including the Worcester site, was singled out as having some of the longest wait times. While more physicians have since been added in Worcester to cut wait times, the chan- cellor said UMMS welcomes an oppor- tunity for further improvement. "Every now and then it's good to have a sort of idealistic view of things," Collins said. n Making way for a 'marvel' For up-to-date event information please visit: www.wbjournal.com/event SponSorShip & advertiSing opportunitieS Still available! Contact your Account Manager or Mark Murray, Associate Publisher at mmurray@wbjournal.com or 508-755-8004 x227. Making Business Connections with the WBJ is easy as 1-2-3! SponSor! noMinate! attend! • Get your company's message in front of the region's business leaders • Build your brand awareness with a sponsorship • Recognize your outstanding staff member, client or colleague • Face to face networking with the top executives in the community • Grow your business network In PrInt | OnlIne | In PerSOn 1 2 3 15th ANNI VERSARY 15th ANNI VERSARY SepteMBer 2015 2010 oCtoBer 2015 DCU Center, Worcester 2012TOP WORKPLACES Worcester Business Journal's Worcester Business Journal's 2013 TOP WORKPLACES 2012TOP WORKPLACES Worcester Business Journal's 2012 Worcester Business Journal's deCeMBer 2015 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In Outstanding noveMBer 2015 Tuckerman Hall, Worcester FeBruary 2015 B E S T O F B U SI N E S S Awards B E S T O F B U S I N E S S W o r c e s t e r B u sin ess J o u r n a l January 2015 MarCh 2015 FAMILY BUSINESS A W A R D S C E N T R A L M A S S . WORCESTER BUSINESS JOURNAL'S June 2015 C E L E B R A T I N G 2 5 Y E A R S W o r ce s t e r B u s i n e ss J o u r n a l This aerial image, provided courtesy of University of Massachusetts Medical School, shows the location of the proposed VA facility (outlined in yellow) on Belmont Street in Worcester. >> Continued from Page 1 P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

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