AUSTIN (KXAN) - What will Central Texas need in the next decade to offer world class healthcare for a growing population? Some say it will take a medical school and teaching hospital.

Sen. Kirk Watson is leading the effort to get one.

When Dr. TJ Milling visits Houston's Medical Center he can't help but think of what Austin could be.

"All those buildings, all that research, all that medical education going on and across the street is Rice University and it made me think about the Northeast corner of our downtown," said Milling, an emergency room physician.

That's why Milling and others are pushing for a medical school and teaching hospital to replace University Medical Center Brackenridge.

On Wednesday, March 7, KXAN will host a live town hall discussion called " ATXpansion : Healthcare in Central Texas. Community leaders will talk about the various issues we face in the coming years. It will take place from 7 p.m . to 8 p.m . at the Hill Country Bible Church - Northwest Campus in Cedar Park. Register here to attend free of charge.

"The truth is you need to have that infrastructure surrounding a medical center to draw the best and brightest positions to a community," he said.

According to officials at Seton, Texas ranks 42nd in the number of physicians per capita, and in 2016, Seton anticipates a shortage of 770 physicians in Central Texas.

The largest deficits will be in specialties like family practice, internal medicine, as well as infectious disease, pulmonology and rheumatology.

"Having a medical school here will enable us to provide more support personnel, more doctors, doctors tend to stay in the areas where they train," said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

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New medical school 'crucial' to Austin