September 22 – Pullman Regional Hospital and Washington State University will hold a ceremony to celebrate their joint efforts in developing the Family Medicine Residency program.
The Hospital and WSU invite community members to attend today at 4:00 p.m. on the first floor of the facility at 835 SE Bishop Blvd. Pullman to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours of the facility. According to a PRH press release, the event will be the hospital’s first open house since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This program has been in the works for more than a year and was accredited in May 2021, according to previous Daily News reports. According to the press release, the center will provide physicians with a clinical space to learn and practice patient care. Residents are medical professionals who have completed medical school and continue their education to complete education and choose a specialty, the press release said.
Stephen Hall, a local GP, will serve as director of the program, according to the press release. The three-year family medicine program will welcome its first doctors to the clinic in the summer of 2023, according to the press release. The program will add up to three doctors each year, with a total of nine resident doctors expected by 2026.
Construction of the Family Medicine Residency Center was funded entirely through philanthropy, the press release said. The $7.6 million project was funded by Next Era of Excellence, a hospital-led fundraising campaign, and volunteer campaign cabinet members including Mayor Glenn Johnson and fourth-generation farmer Wayne Druffel. Funding for the center will also support the Pullman Regional Hospital Orthopedic Center of Excellence
“It is common for residents to stay and practice in the same communities of their residency program,” Hall said in the release. “Residency programs today support greater access to essential services and create a recruitment and retention opportunity for our future. Rural communities like ours struggle to have enough GPs. This program solves both current and future needs to provide better access to basic services.”
For more information about the Family Medicine Residency Center, visit medicine.wsu.edu/gme/fm-pullman or pullmanregional.org/residency-program.
Pearce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @Emily_A_Pearce.
