(01-24-2013 11:25 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:35 AM)Buc66 Wrote:  Has King opened its Medical School yet?

Dead in the water - at least for the time being. The big chunk of money they were going to be getting from the Virginia tobacco fund got pulled.

Based on my reading of the situation, you are exactly right. King failed to come up with the matching funds for the Virginia Tobacco Commission grant before the deadline expired. However, I find it interesting that no local media has reported on this. They basically ran the press release announcing the name change to university status without even raising a question about a very ambitious project that seems to be in deep jeopardy. If King is going to brag about its wonderful accomplishments and exciting future, the school also needs to be held accountable for past promises that seem to be fading into the sunset.

In Sunday Jan 27 BHC online. FYI, there are no representatives from King remaining in the corporation mentioned in this article. King College hasn't been involved since last May.

Article on ETSU involvement in former King Med School Venture

(01-27-2013 06:30 PM)Tree Street Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 11:25 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:35 AM)Buc66 Wrote:  Has King opened its Medical School yet?

Dead in the water - at least for the time being. The big chunk of money they were going to be getting from the Virginia tobacco fund got pulled.

Based on my reading of the situation, you are exactly right. King failed to come up with the matching funds for the Virginia Tobacco Commission grant before the deadline expired. However, I find it interesting that no local media has reported on this. They basically ran the press release announcing the name change to university status without even raising a question about a very ambitious project that seems to be in deep jeopardy. If King is going to brag about its wonderful accomplishments and exciting future, the school also needs to be held accountable for past promises that seem to be fading into the sunset.

(01-27-2013 06:47 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  In Sunday Jan 27 BHC online. FYI, there are no representatives from King remaining in the corporation mentioned in this article. King College hasn't been involved since last May.

Thanks for sharing this. I had not seen the article in the Bristol newspaper. It looks like ETSU's interest in the project has kept it alive. I was aware that a separate corporation was formed for the Virginia medical school, but comments by King President Greg Jordan had led me to believe (incorrectly it seems) that King still had some involvement. In the WCYB story on King's transition to university status, the station reported: "According to Jordan, it also puts King in 'as good of a position as ever' to continue progress on their medical school."
http://www.wcyb.com/news/King-College-an...index.html

Perhaps the reporter misquoted Jordan or perhaps Jordan didn't express himself clearly. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem that Jordan took great care to distance King from the medical school, which I think would have been the right thing for him to do.

(01-27-2013 06:30 PM)Tree Street Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 11:25 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 09:35 AM)Buc66 Wrote:  Has King opened its Medical School yet?

Dead in the water - at least for the time being. The big chunk of money they were going to be getting from the Virginia tobacco fund got pulled.

Based on my reading of the situation, you are exactly right. King failed to come up with the matching funds for the Virginia Tobacco Commission grant before the deadline expired. However, I find it interesting that no local media has reported on this. They basically ran the press release announcing the name change to university status without even raising a question about a very ambitious project that seems to be in deep jeopardy. If King is going to brag about its wonderful accomplishments and exciting future, the school also needs to be held accountable for past promises that seem to be fading into the sunset.

(01-27-2013 06:30 PM)Tree Street Wrote:  Based on my reading of the situation, you are exactly right. King failed to come up with the matching funds for the Virginia Tobacco Commission grant before the deadline expired. However, I find it interesting that no local media has reported on this. They basically ran the press release announcing the name change to university status without even raising a question about a very ambitious project that seems to be in deep jeopardy. If King is going to brag about its wonderful accomplishments and exciting future, the school also needs to be held accountable for past promises that seem to be fading into the sunset.

Local media *did* report it, albeit not splashed across the mediaverse with the same vigor as the original announcement. Here's something that came out at that time:

back when that happened

Here's another version:

Times-News version of the story

I think the JC Press also had a story, but I think that's enough.

It's important to note that the $10 million "grant" was one of the infamous "in-kind" grants. It wudn't no cash - it was $10 million "worth" of use of their building until they could build classroom space, etc., on their own. Nothing to sneeze at, of course, but not the same as cash.

Jordan is a dreamer - always has been thinking (and dreaming) big. There probably could be, or might be, a place for King College/University somewhere around the periphery of this project, but ultimately they couldn't pull it off on their own. With ETSU involved, that puts all kinds of possibilities on it, both positive and negative. Probably more positive, but I personally was looking forward to the competition which would (hopefully) have gotten ETSU to be more aggressive again. You can bet Nashville will do everything in their power to make dang sure no TN state money goes into Virginia (except to buy wine, of course - lol).

But, as the article clearly states, this is VERY preliminary. Yet perhaps yet another positive outcome of stanton being gone. As I stated on this board 3+ years ago, there is a *possibility*, if this really happens, that the Tri-Cities regions will be propelled even further into the future, and might become a "medical magnet" type of place. That would still take a couple of decades or more, but it *could* happen. And with Noland here now, it almost reeks of potential synergies. Almost. Too early to tell....


[Welcome back, TreeSteetBucs?]

(01-28-2013 12:43 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(01-27-2013 06:30 PM)Tree Street Wrote:  Based on my reading of the situation, you are exactly right. King failed to come up with the matching funds for the Virginia Tobacco Commission grant before the deadline expired. However, I find it interesting that no local media has reported on this. They basically ran the press release announcing the name change to university status without even raising a question about a very ambitious project that seems to be in deep jeopardy. If King is going to brag about its wonderful accomplishments and exciting future, the school also needs to be held accountable for past promises that seem to be fading into the sunset.

Local media *did* report it, albeit not splashed across the mediaverse with the same vigor as the original announcement. Here's something that came out at that time:

back when that happened

Here's another version:

Times-News version of the story

I think the JC Press also had a story, but I think that's enough.

It's important to note that the $10 million "grant" was one of the infamous "in-kind" grants. It wudn't no cash - it was $10 million "worth" of use of their building until they could build classroom space, etc., on their own. Nothing to sneeze at, of course, but not the same as cash.

Jordan is a dreamer - always has been thinking (and dreaming) big. There probably could be, or might be, a place for King College/University somewhere around the periphery of this project, but ultimately they couldn't pull it off on their own. With ETSU involved, that puts all kinds of possibilities on it, both positive and negative. Probably more positive, but I personally was looking forward to the competition which would (hopefully) have gotten ETSU to be more aggressive again. You can bet Nashville will do everything in their power to make dang sure no TN state money goes into Virginia (except to buy wine, of course - lol).

But, as the article clearly states, this is VERY preliminary. Yet perhaps yet another positive outcome of stanton being gone. As I stated on this board 3+ years ago, there is a *possibility*, if this really happens, that the Tri-Cities regions will be propelled even further into the future, and might become a "medical magnet" type of place. That would still take a couple of decades or more, but it *could* happen. And with Noland here now, it almost reeks of potential synergies. Almost. Too early to tell....


[Welcome back, TreeSteetBucs?]

I'm quite new to this board, and I didn't realize there had been a poster named Tree Street Bucs. Almost like the old days when one chose a CB handle only to learn that it had been claimed by another local person. :)

I share your hope that this could help the region grow in its role as a "medical magnet."

I was interested to note that the King College board names the board of the King School of Medicine. That is a huge role for King if it continues. I wonder if that is in the best interest of the new medical school.

http://johnsoncitypress.com/Living/artic...?id=104457