>
Christie to fast-track NJ medical schools merger
Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that his administration will move quickly to merge Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and a public health school into Rutgers University’s Central Jersey campus.
An advisory committee he appointed to examine the future of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey filed an interim report Tuesday, and Christie said he will swiftly enact its ideas through an executive reorganization. Such a move can be vetoed by the Legislature within two months of its formal filing, but it doesn’t require lawmaker approval to be enacted.
The committee will also assess the future of medical education in North and South Jersey, but those recommendations will wait until a final report is filed by year’s end.
UMDNJ runs educational programs in both regions: University Hospital in Newark is struggling financially, and Rowan University is developing a medical school with Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
Christie alluded to the criminal investigation of UMDNJ for Medicare and Medicaid fraud he pursued as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, which ended with a federal monitor installed to ensure governance changes at the school. (Symons, Gannett)