While students and faculty voiced general support for the College's new health care education and research initiatives, some staff members expressed concerns that the new program would divert attention and funds from efforts to assist staff members with health benefits. On Monday, College officials announced plans to establish the Dartmouth Center for Health Care and Delivery Science by Summer 2011 after $35 million was pledged towards the Center's formation.
The Center will offer a joint master's degree in health care delivery science through the Tuck School of Business and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice starting in July 2011. Dartmouth Medical School and undergraduate curricula will both be expanded to include courses in health care delivery.
"I think this is a very unique and needed endeavor and I can't think of another institution more qualified to confront the issue," DMS and undergraduate biology professor Lee Witters said. "This is a very comprehensive, interdisciplinary way to tackle the issue of health care. We need to include a range of people who have a variety of interests from government and ethics to medicine or engineering issues."
Witters explained that the project is a unique resource for the education and benefit of the entire Dartmouth community.
"There is a great tendency in colleges and universities to be centrifugal, spinning out to individual fiefdoms," Witters explained. "This is what I would regard as centripetal or the complete opposite. Here everything is flowing to a concentrated middle, populated by students and faculty of diverse interests."
Students of varied academic interests voiced support for the Center and the new opportunities it will bring to campus.
"It's a great idea, because it will allow pre-meds and people with more restricted academic schedules to expand on their liberal arts education and to take more interdisciplinary courses," Zaritza Petrova '10, a pre-medical student, said. "This program will be aimed to enrich even more well-rounded individuals."
While opportunities and resources offered at the Center will bring together a wide range of fields of study, faculty have voiced concerns that the new minor to be offered in health policy and clinical practice by the Center will distract students from pursuing the College's unique liberal arts experience.
"I think one of the strengths of a liberal arts college is not to drag yourself into a career set of courses, but major in what you find most interesting," biology professor Roger Sloboda said. "Major in what you find most interesting and let the specialization come later in graduate school, medical school or business school."
Sloboda called the Center "new" and "innovative," pointing out that it puts Dartmouth "on the map for having a real global perspective."
While some members of the College staff generally supported the new program, they expressed reservations about how the Center's relationship to staff benefits.
"I congratulate [College] President [Jim Yong] Kim on getting the anonymous donation for this project I know that this has been one of his biggest priorities with coming to campus," said Susan Russell, secretary and treasurer of Service Employees International Union Local 560 and an employee of the college. "I hope he doesn't forget about his employees on campus, including the issue of their health insurance."
In April, College officials proposed changes to the health care plan provided to employees through the College, including increased copayments, higher deductibles and required out-of-pocket payments, as a cost-saving measure.
Other staff members expressed frustration that donations are going towards new programs rather than bolstering worker benefits.
"I think it's a contradiction in itself that the College is making big giant cuts in [employees' health insurance policies] while they're going to be spending millions and millions of dollars on studying it," Earl Sweet, president of SEIU Local 560, said. "It's too bad someone wouldn't give $35 million so they wouldn't raise health care prices on all the employees."
Russell said that the Center will likely not hurt employees and staff overall, stating that it will "probably be more of a plus for the College overall and put Dartmouth on the map for [this field]."
Some students also voiced concern that initiating new projects while cutting others may not be the most efficient use of the College's time and resources.
"I'm not saying it's a bad program or anything, but I just think that this may not be the best time to bring any new program to the school that's worth so much money when you're making so many cuts in other places," said a member of the Class of 2013, who wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the topic. "I feel like people could get angry about that."
Many, however, expressed excitement about the new range of courses that will be offered through the Center.
"The undergraduate courses and professionals that will come to campus through the Center will attract all kinds of people with a general interest in health care," Kunal Patel '11, a pre-medical student and biology and economics major, said. "I'm excited for it, though it's a little sad that I'm going to be graduating."
Other students stressed the Center's role in bringing national and global health care issues to the College.
"This presence on campus will be a great way to spread knowledge and make people aware about health care," Kate Burns '13, a pre-medical student, said. "It's also a big issue for our nation, and it would be a good way to pop the Dartmouth bubble and find out what's going on in the world."
Students appreciated the Center's multi-dimensional approach involving many areas of study to address problems with health care delivery.
"It will really open up opportunities to study this pressing topic through what is a very interdisciplinary initiative from a variety of perspectives," Ben Campbell '10 said. "From a broader standpoint, this is an incredible initiative pooling on Dartmouth's best resources."
Students voiced their eagerness to participate in the program and their support for Kim's efforts to open up the field of global health to the Dartmouth community.
"This is President Kim's specialty, and it's great to have him involved in creating this and bringing this here," Colleen O'Grady '12, a Latin American studies major, said. "I'll definitely look into courses and be interested in any lectures they bring to campus."
