More than six years ago, when Florida International University secured the green light to create a new medical school at its West Miami-Dade main campus, the affirmative vote by the states Board of Governors was hailed as perhaps the most important in the universitys history. <\/p>\n
Leading up to that yes vote, FIU leaders presented a finely tuned sales pitch that highlighted the expected benefits of a new med school: significant economic impact, increased numbers of minority physicians and increased access to healthcare among the regions underserved populations. <\/p>\n
We have the largest concentration in the state of underserved citizens, then-FIU President Modesto Mitch Maidique told the Board of Governors in a formal presentation prior to the key vote. <\/p>\n
But now that FIUs medical school is up and running with a clinic that began seeing public patients in April the school has been placed on the defensive because of the limited access it provides to a key segment of the medically underserved: Medicaid patients. <\/p>\n
The universitys on-campus Faculty Group Practice, comprising a handful of full-time FIU faculty physicians, does not accept Medicaid patients, and does not expect to do so for about six months. The clinic includes two family-practice physicians, an internist, four gynecologists and several other doctors, with plans to add specialists in areas such as neurology and cardiology. <\/p>\n
The clinic is under an umbrella group known as FIU Health, which encompasses 119 full-time medical faculty members and more than 800 part-time volunteer faculty. A patient who calls the FIU Health main hotline seeking a doctor could be referred to any physician within the umbrella group, regardless of whether they are full- or part-time faculty. <\/p>\n
Over time, FIU pledges that all its full-time faculty will honor all forms of insurance. Currently, the doctors at FIUs modest 6,000-square-foot Faculty Group Practice accept Medicare, AvMed and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, among others. <\/p>\n
The university did confirm that its Faculty Group Practice does not currently accept Medicaid, but said it does not track what insurances are accepted by the 800-plus volunteer doctors under the network. <\/p>\n
FIU provided the names of all volunteer faculty to The Miami Herald. That list was compared with the states database of local Medicaid providers, and revealed that almost one-third of those doctors do not accept Medicaid. <\/p>\n
I was very disappointed, said Dr. Francisco Pita, a general practice doctor with an office a few blocks from the FIU campus. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Is FIU health program falling short in its pledge?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" More than six years ago, when Florida International University secured the green light to create a new medical school at its West Miami-Dade main campus, the affirmative vote by the states Board of Governors was hailed as perhaps the most important in the universitys history. Continue reading