Home Nonprofit & Education Education URI board of trustees supports public medical school

URI board of trustees supports public medical school

By

Veer Mudambi

-

02/16/2026

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island board of trustees voted unanimously, with one abstention, on Feb. 13 in support of a state legislative commission’s recommendation to establish a public medical school on campus. “The board looks forward to ongoing collaboration with our elected leaders as URI continues to be a central partner in

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SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island board of trustees voted unanimously, with one abstention, on Feb. 13 in support of a state legislative commission’s recommendation to establish a public medical school on campus. “The board looks forward to ongoing collaboration with our elected leaders as URI continues to be a central partner in addressing the state’s most pressing public health issues," said Board of Trustees Chair Margo Cook, who also served on the Senate Special Legislative Commission. Since its formation in July 2024, the commission, co-chaired by Sen. Pamela Lauria, D-Barrington, and URI President Marc Parlange, has examined the state's shortage of primary care physicians, strategies for educating and retaining primary care physicians and the creation of a new state medical school.

The commission's final report included a study by independent consulting firm Tripp Umbach, that concluded that a medical school at URI is achievable, economically beneficial to the state and would help address the state’s primary care physician shortage. The commission voted unanimously, 15–0, on Jan. 27 to recommend the creation of a medical school at URI.

Rhode Island is expected to have a deficit of nearly 100 primary care providers by 2030, according to a report by The Robert Graham Center. As of 2018, about 44% of Rhode Island family physicians were over the age of 55 and nearing retirement age. The ocean state is also losing the new physicians it trains to other states. Launching the school would cost more than $200 million, according to a draft report compiled by the Tripp Umbach firm that was presented to a Senate commission in May. With the first class enrolled in 2029, it is estimated that within three years of operation, the medical school could achieve financial stability, generating an economic impact of $196 million annually, supporting approximately 1,334 jobs and contributing about $4.5 million in annual state and local tax revenue. The commission has urged lawmakers to create a Primary Care Commission to oversee planning for the new school. (Veer Mudambi is the special projects editor of the Providence Business News. He can be reached at mudambi@pbn.com.)