Typically the lobbyists at OHSU advocate for a variety of legislative measures, but this time around they’re focused on one major campaign – getting legislative approval for $200 million to support the Knight Cancer Institute.
Brian Shipley, associate vice president of government relations, made that quite clear at OHSU’s board meeting Thursday.
It’s well known that Phil Knight has pledged $500 million to the institute if OHSU can match that amount within two years, with those dollars targeted for cancer research.
Shipley's team has rallied the support of a broad coalition of allies, including major business organizations, labor unions and the Oregon Rural Health Association.
“Everybody sees this as a story about a special opportunity for all of Oregon,” he said. “We are touching lives and trying to improve the health of everyone in the state.” He estimates the initiative will create 380 permanent full-time jobs, not counting construction jobs for the initial construction of research facilities, and when finished contribute $5.6 million per year in state tax revenue.
Board member MardiLyn Saathof asked if the school would be making any other capital requests from the legislature, and Shipley said no, although OHSU expects to continue receiving $24-26 million every biennium to support its budget.
“It feels like a big surprise that OHSU would be going to the state for $200 million in support, but actually is a normal thing for OHSU to go to the state when a big scientific opportunity arises,” said Shipley who referenced 2001's Oregon Opportunity (http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/initiatives/upload/OHSUF-Oregon-Opportunity-00-06-campaign-report.pdf), a fundraising campaign for biomedical research, during which OHSU received $200 million from the state and raised an additional $378 million – which, among other things, funded the construction of new buildings on South Waterfront and upgraded facilities on Marquam Hill.
Brian Newman, director of OHSU's campus planning, development and real estate department, presented the board with construction plans for both expanded research facilities and what he called an “ambulatory hospital,” all of which would be located on OHSU's South Waterfront campus area.
Acknowledging the term “ambulatory hospital” is a “term of art” that isn't used in medical billing codes, Newman said the new buildings would focus on services not typically done in an outpatient setting.
“While there are freestanding ambulatory surgical centers they're not this level of complexity,” Newman said.
OHSU President Dr. Joe Robertson called the plan reflective of what hospitals will look like in the future.
“It is outpatient plus. The true inpatient facility is intensive care units,” Robertson said. “Hospitals are going to be very large intensive care facilities that are adjacent to chronic care. There are less risk factors in being outside the hospital than inside the hospital.”
Newman estimated the capital construction costs for the new facility at just under $500 million. OHSU spokesperson Tim Kringen said the first building, which would be for clinical research, would be funded by the $200 million the school is asking for from the state if the bond request is approved, with funding for the second building coming partly from OHSU's existing capital funding and partly from funding for the challenge grant.
The new facility would essentially replace much of the clinical function of Multnomah Pavilion, Newman said, and his team is now considering ways to “backfill” that facility once it has moved, and suggested it may be re-purposed as office space.
At the opening of the meeting, chief financial officer Lawrence Furnstahl reported the school's earnings for the fiscal year to date are $350.7 million – 8 percent over budget for the fiscal year, with $252.2 million coming from patient revenue, $64.1 million coming from grants and contracts and $5.2 million coming from gifts. The school's net worth is up $22 million.
Christen can be reached at [email protected].
