VCOM View Vol 10 No 1

LLM, played a key role in the establishment of the new partnership with Bruno and ULM. With the full backing of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, support for ULM’s partnership with VCOM continued to grow across the state. Randy Morris, Chairman of the Board for the Rural Hospital Coalition in Louisiana, also played an integral role in getting the word out to hospital administrators across the state about the advantages of an in-state private medical school. With an ever- increasing need for physicians in these rural areas, the prospect of having a local medical school to attract students who might return to practice in these underserved areas, was very appealing.

Structured after successful VCOM partnerships with Virginia Tech and Auburn University, the public/private partnership with ULM would incur no cost for the state of Louisiana and provide VCOM students with all the student benefits, educational partnerships and research opportunities afforded to students enrolled at ULM. Approval from the State In March of 2018, Ray Morrison, DO, FACOS, was offered the role of founding dean of the new branch, and in August 2018, he became the first employee of VCOM-Louisiana. The newly-appointed Morrison played a critical role in making local connections as VCOM sought approval from the state legislative board of supervisors to establish a campus in Monroe.

Above: Speakers at VCOM-Louisiana’s groundbreaking at the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) included (left to right) Ray Morrison, DO, Dean of the new VCOM-Louisiana campus; Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, DO, VCOM President and Provost; John G. Rocovich Jr., JD, LLM, Chairman of the VCOM Board of Directors; Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana; Dr. Nick J. Bruno, (past) President of ULM; the Honorable Francis Thompson, EdD, MEd, Louisiana State Representative; Mark Baker, DO, Past President of the American Osteopathic Association; Jim Henderson, DM, MS, President of the University of Louisiana System; and Jamie Mayo, Mayor of the city of Monroe. (Not shown) Julia Letlow, PhD, Executive Director of External Affairs and Strategic Communications; the Honorable Katrina Jackson, JD, Louisiana State Senator.

summer/fall 2020 | VCOM V iew M agazine 9