The number of doctors trained in Washington could double in the next few years.

Legislation giving Washington State University the green light to establish a medical school in Spokane passed in the Washington State Senate on Tuesday morning, hours after an identical bill cleared the House of Representatives.

State Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane: This shouldnt be the Apple Cup of medical education. This is really a choice for more doctors.

The legislation repeals a 98-year-old law that gives the University of Washington sole authority to operate a state-sponsored medical school. It also repeals a forestry school monopoly given to the UW in 1917.

Don Barbieri, a WSU Regent, described as great news the votes in Olympia. Elson Floyd, WSUs president, called the Legislatures action a powerful message that a century old policy is inadequate to the needs of 21st -entury Washington.

But the Legislature has yet to authorize any money to pay for the WSU med school. Wazzu is asking for $2.5 million to hire faculty and pursue accreditation. Eventually, with classes of 120 entering students, about $40 million would be needed to pay the states share of medical education.

The University of Washington Medical School accepts 120 students from this state each year. Yet, a total of 350 Washington undergraduates go on to study medicine, nearly two-thirds of them in out-of-state schools.

This shouldnt be the Apple Cup of medical education: This is really a choice for more doctors, said state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, sponsor of the legislation. It passed by a 45-4 vote in the Legislature;s upper chamber.

The House vote was 85-17. We have a growing need in our state: We are not meeting that need currently or looking to the future, said State Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane. We can do better in this state and change this 100-year-old law. This is about community based medical education. This is about patient-care access.

In a statement that will be tested, Riccelli argued that Spokane possesses the needed infrastructure to hit the ground running right away.

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A WSU medical school in Spokane gets thumbs up from Legislature