January 26, 2022 3:45 a.m.
The City of Roseburg will soon reinforce its commitment to a proposed Southern Oregon Medical Workforce Development Center in time for the start of the 2022 state legislative session.
A City release said Monday night the Roseburg City Council approved City Manager Nikki Messenger negotiating and entering into an updated agreement with the nonprofit Umpqua Valley Development Corporation that spell’s out the City’s commitment to a project intended to address rising shortages of healthcare professionals and medical training programs in rural Oregon while boosting the region’s economy.
The release said Messenger and UVDC are expected to sign the agreement, known as a memorandum of understanding, before the Oregon State Legislature begins its short session on Tuesday.
An effort to build and open a medical training facility in Roseburg has been underway for at least a decade. CHI Mercy Health first recognized a severe shortage of healthcare workers, especially in rural areas, in 2012.
City work on the proposed community-based project dates at least as far back as 2013. That is when the City Council agreed to spend $30,000 on a feasibility study. In early 2019, the council also approved $25,000 for an economic study of the proposed training center. Later that year, the legislature approved $10 million in state lottery bond funding for construction and UVDC was formed to oversee the project.
The release said the project was in the midst of a collaborative process managed by Portland State University’s Oregon Solutions when state lottery bond approval was withdrawn because of economic projections from the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been on hold since November 2020.
Under the updated agreement, the City would be willing to act as the owner or joint owner of the center following its construction. It would also be willing to serve as the grant recipient or fiscal agent for state-authorized funding and to provide matching funding of up to $10 million through bonding and/or loan programs.
Site selection and academic partners still remain to be determined.