Peter Schorsch
UCF has a young medical school with a bright future.
A lot of their success over the past decade stems from partnerships with two of the major health care providers in Central Florida: AdventHealth and Orlando Health.
But those companies have decided to punish UCF students over the university’s decision to partner with HCA on a teaching hospital.
HCA gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse — shared ownership of a state-of-the-art, $175 million facility right next to the medical school.
The other offers put forward were no match, and UCF made the right call.
Now, AdventHealth and Orlando Health say they won’t let UCF medical students do rotations at their facilities anymore.
That’s put students in a bind.
Ahead of UCF Lake Nona Medical Center’s opening in 2020, medical students have been forced to travel to HCA hospitals as far away as Gainesville and Ocala in order to get the training they need to become doctors.
That benefits patients in those regions to the detriment of those in Orlando.
Unlike job training in other fields, rotations aren’t a burden. They’re of substantial benefit to the host facilities. A medical degree doesn’t get framed and thrown on a wall, never to be used again — those students go on to residencies and then into practice.
Where do they end up? More often than not, they head to the places that have taken the time to invest in them.
If AdventHealth and Orlando Health continued accepting UCF med students, they’d continue to have a valuable pipeline of medical professionals coming through their doors and, one day, joining their staff.
That was their goal when they helped push for UCF to get a medical school in the first place. It wasn’t altruism.
There’s a physician shortage, they wanted doctors, and they knew the best way to get them was by helping educate the next wave of medical professionals.
Now, just because UCF acted in its own best interest, the companies are shooting themselves in the foot.
Jealousy is a powerful drug indeed.
7 comments
Colleen
November 17, 2019 at 9:01 am
Advent is a huge presence on campus. They are the official doctors of the football team and donate millions of dollars to their programs besides having a Physical Therapy facility in the Student Health Center.
It was a slap in the face to Advent by Dr. German, who sited separating church and state at the proposal meeting after she made derogatory remarks about the hospital and UCF had just excepted a 2M donation from them. She has stepped on many toes. Of course they took the “best” deal, COM is millions of dollars in debt, as is all the clinics Dr. G is V.P. over, so whoever had the best handout got the contract.
UCF is bleeding money from all its clinics because they can’t get or keep patients per an outside consultant. Why? If the public doesn’t want to see the professors who teach these students, why would we assume they are being taught correctly?
She is burning bridges without thought or concern. The hospitals that HCA run here, in Orlando, are nicknamed Death Central so I can see the medical students dismay.
Isaac
November 17, 2019 at 9:13 pm
UCF should’ve thought about the consequences before making that decision since ALL decisions carry consequences. As a consumer, I would Definitely stay away from any HCA facility in Central Florida when since we have two of The best health institutions in the country, AH Orlando and Orlando Regional, right on our backyard. Sucks for the students.
Celeste
November 20, 2019 at 11:07 pm
I totally agree Colleen. The authors viewpoint is grounded in the fact that he does not have to take his family to a HCA hospital! I don’t know how UCF will fix this. They better refund the Med students tuition, because they are learning 10% at Death Central of what they would have learned at ORMC. I think they should fire the Dean too.
Ralph Malph
November 18, 2019 at 11:02 am
What is it about “religious institutions” that makes them put money ahead of humanity?
Celeste
November 20, 2019 at 11:11 pm
Are you serious?? You must think for profit HCA is so much better. Ask any nurse…HCA hospitals are the worst. The best and brightest are not dreaming of working at HCA
Beth
November 21, 2019 at 2:17 am
So If HCA is so terrible all the more reason for Advent Health and Orlando Health to show some compassion to the students.
Beth
November 19, 2019 at 1:28 am
I am disappointed that an institution which celebrates it’s Christian connection would be so spiteful.
Why punish students for a decision they had no control over?
Step up AdventHealth and Orlando Health do the right thing for these students and the community you serve. Spitefulness does not become you.
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