A "medical school brings a whole new economy to a region" – attracting health care and biotechnology-related industries, White said. Those economic opportunities would ripple into the nearby Coachella Valley, he added. The proposed medical school is especially needed in the inland San Bernardino and Riverside counties, where about half the state’s average number of physicians per-capita practice medicine, White said. The Kaiser Permanente Foundation has pledged a $10 million matching fund for the medical school once the state releases its $10 million, he added. White blasted the deepening cuts to the state’s educational system in his earlier remarks before a who’s who of Coachella Valley leadership. He said it was crucial to continue investing in students despite the most punishing economic conditions in decades. Educators are being asked to "work in the wrong direction," White told the crowd. "This is like an anti-stimulus package experience for me."

Read full article [here].
by Marcel Honoré, The Pal Springs Desert Sun.

Posted: June 30th, 2009, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.