UPH Hospital
University Physicians Hospital, in collaboration with The University of Arizona, is creating seven new residency programs. The hospital’s residency programs are part of the UA and UPH Hospital Graduate Medical Education Consortium and will supplement current residency programs at the UA, with a focus on rural and underserved areas of Arizona.
Initial accreditation has been received for three of the programs – internal medicine, psychiatry and radiology. Internal medicine and psychiatry will begin in July and radiology will begin a year later, in July 2009. The remaining programs in emergency medicine, neurology, family medicine and ophthalmology are awaiting accreditation.
"These programs will attract and train doctors right here in our community with the hope that they will remain working physicians in the state of Arizona," said Keith Joiner, vice provost for medical affairs and dean of the UA College of Medicine. "This is an investment that both UPH and the UA believe are critical to alleviate the current physician shortage in southern Arizona and the crippling effect it may have on health care in the decades ahead."
By the end of 2011, it is projected that 118 residents will be participating in the new programs.
"This is another step to continuing the fulfillment of UPH’s mission of caring, education and research," said Norm Botsford, president and CEO of UPH. "We are committed to our continued building of UPH Hospital as the next academic medical center, and to serving the needs of the community now and in the future."
Anthony D. Rodgers, director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, said, "Strong graduate medical education programs in Arizona are important in reducing the Arizona physician manpower shortage and improving access to care throughout the state. That is why AHCCCS has been a major contributor of funding for Arizona’s Graduate Medical Education programs."
The new programs will be based primarily at UPH Hospital and will include rotations throughout the state, including with Veteran Affairs and the Indian Health Service. The programs will focus on providing health care in rural and other underserved areas of the state.
University Physicians Hospital is operated by University Physicians Healthcare, a nonprofit corporation created in 1985 as the medical practice of the physicians of the UA College of Medicine. Together, UPH, the UA, UPH Hospital and University Medical Center combine to care for patients, educate medical students, train young physicians and conduct clinical research. With more than 350 physicians and 1,250 staff, UPH is Arizona’s largest physicians group.
Katie Riley
520-626-4828