If it seems like there’s a legislative commission for everything in Rhode Island, it’s because there is.
But a new Senate-appointed commission to study whether to create a medical school at the University of Rhode Island is worth keeping an eye on because it’s stacked with some of the most influential players in the state.
Earlier this month, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio named 21 appointees to the group, which is tasked with studying the health care workforce with a focus on educating and retaining primary care physicians, and exploring whether a medical school at URI could make a difference.
The commission will be co-chaired by URI President Marc Parlange and Senator Pam Lauria.
Other elected officials include Senators Susan Sosnowski, Alana M. DiMario, and Thomas J. Paolino, Representatives Susan R. Donovan and Jacquelyn Baginski, and Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera.
Some of the other high-profile names include former CVS CEO Thomas M. Ryan, Armand E. Sabitoni, and URI Board Chair Margo Cook. Drs. Staci Fischer, Patrick Vivier, Barbara E. Wolfe, Michael Fine, and Marie Ganim. And M. Teresa Paiva Weed, Stacy Paterno and Christopher F. Koller are also part of the commission.
The bigger picture: Ruggerio is giving the commission a long runway to conduct its review. It isn’t required to submit a report to the General Assembly until Dec. 20, 2025, and a lot could happen politically before that point.
But Ruggerio has been clear that he thinks URI should consider creating a medical school, and it’s difficult to imagine he’d be appointing people like Ryan and Sabitoni to a commission that is going to reject the idea.
It will be interesting to see what role, if any, Brown University ends up playing in this discussion. They currently run the only in-state medical school.
The commission is expected to begin meeting in the fall.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.