The effort to build a medical school at the University of Rhode Island may soon be getting a financial commitment from the General Assembly.
State Senate leaders on Thursday proposed setting aside $5 million dollars in funding this year for the project. That’s $15 million less than a consultant called necessary to start the process.
State Sen. Pam Lauria (D-Barrington) said URI told the Senate it needs the $20 million, “not all upfront, so $5 million is what they asked for for this year.”
The funding would likely not be available until after the state budget is approved in June.
The medical school funding is part of a package of 17 bills Senate leaders unveiled meant to improve healthcare. The legislation confronts subjects ranging from medical malpractice to the potentially harmful effect of artificial intelligence in chatbots.
“For the well-being of our communities, and the future of our state, it is imperative that we do everything in our power to ensure the stability and sustainability of our healthcare system,” Senate President Val Lawson said during a Statehouse news conference.
This marks the third year the Senate has rolled out an array of healthcare-related legislation, a process started under former President Dominick Ruggerio.
This time, the bills are grouped into three main areas: “supporting Rhode Islanders in crisis,” “protecting patients and providers” and “strengthening the healthcare workforce.”
The value of one measure, codifying support in state law for the 988 help line, was dramatized when Steven Hoard described the assistance provided when his son locked himself in the basement of his home last December while wrestling with depression and anxiety. His son urged him not to call 911, because he didn’t want a loud response from emergency vehicles.
Hoard said he had learned through training just weeks earlier of 988 and that his son decided to get counseling after talking with someone on the line.
Other bills in the package would require an initial $900,000 in funding and expanded coverage for mobile response and stabilization services, which provide community-based behavioral health services to respond to mental health crises. Another bill would require commercial insurers to pay for the mobile response and stabilization services.
Lawson praised the Senate’s sustained focus on healthcare and said it’s making a difference, though she conceded there’s a long way to go in a state facing a shortage of primary care doctors and other adverse effects from lower insurance reimbursement than in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
With artificial intelligence-powered companions growing in popularity, sometimes with negative results, legislation would require AI companion models and chatbots to have a protocol for addressing self-harm or financial harm.
Other bills in the Senate package would invest in local repayment and scholarship programs for primary care providers; create a commission to study medical malpractice and update statutes to ensure childhood and adult vaccine schedules are set by the Rhode Island Department of Health.