Xavier partners with Ochsner to become 6th HBCU medical school

By Zoe Trask
Contributing Writer

Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health announced on Jan. 17 that the institutions are partnering to establish a joint College of Medicine.

In April 2022, Xavier declared its intention to create a medical school, but the university did not specify the details regarding enrollment or costs. Months after the initial decision, Xavier has officially indicated that the path to creating the medical school will take place in collaboration with the state’s largest non-profit and academic healthcare provider, Ochsner Health. Xavier has been a leader in producing African-American undergraduates who go on to complete medical school.

“This historic agreement between Xavier and Ochsner heeded the call to advance the health of this state, the nation, and the world,” said Dr. Reynold Verret, the president of Xavier University, who joined with elected officials and Ochsner representatives for the announcement at the campus and who emphasized the importance of African-American physicians and medical professionals needed to reduce disparities in healthcare across the state.

“Representation among medical practitioners is crucial for our communities,” Verret said. “By representation, we mean representation in practice, health care delivery, research, and the imposing of certain questions required to innovate health care around the country,” he added.

The partnership between Xavier and Ochsner dates back to the 1980s, during which time the two institutions have collaborated to offer more clinical training sites for pharmacy students, according to administrators. The new initiative to create a medical school is believed to be the result of a greater mission to create more academic, economic, and professional opportunities, administrators said. Xavier will join Howard University, Morehouse College, Meharry Medical College, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and Morgan State University which recently announced a College of Osteopathic Medicine as the handful of HBCUs with medical degree programs.

“Creating new jobs and training new physicians is critical, but it is just as important as the need to build a workforce that reflects the values and diversity of the amazing patients and community members that we serve,” said Andy Wisdom, the board president of Ochsner Health, who added that diversity and inclusion in healthcare are the next steps for advancement, as the company has continued to hit milestones.

“We’ve made important strides across Ochsner,” Wisdom said. “In fact, we were just recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of America’s greatest workplaces for diversity,” he added.

In November, Ochsner Health announced in a statement that Xavier is an integral board partner for “Healthy State,” a plan to improve Louisiana’s health ranking by 2030 due to its current low national ranking. The new Xavier and Ochsner College of Medicine is a step in the right direction, administrators said. It will be formed from a non-profit corporation. Faculty, personnel, and administrators from both institutions will form part of the faculty, including a new curriculum for medical students.

Kalia Howard, a junior psychology pre-med major from Orlando, Fla., said that she is appreciative of the new medical school because she believes that it is the pinnacle of future possibilities for African-American students.

“There’s not many HBCUs with medical schools,” Howard said. “This is a great opportunity not only for current Xavier students but graduate students as well,” she added.

As a Xavier student, Kalia said she is proud to attend a university that puts effort into her future.

“It shapes me into the physician that I want to be,” Howard said.

This article originally published in the January 23, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.