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University Daily Kansan
Med Center tuition suit on hold
BvDAN WINTER
Staff Manager
Court action on a lawsuit brought by 234 University of Kansas Medical Center students against the Board of Regents probably will not resume until early next year, according to attorneys in the case.
Two counts of the suit, filed last May, were dismissed months ago by William Carpenter, Shawnee County District Attorney.
However, a third count, which charges that the Regents' action in raising Med Center tuition 167 percent was "capricious, oppressive and amounted to constructive fraud." "I was retained by Carpenter.
Gerald Jesierich, a Kansas City, Kan., attorney representing the students, said yesterday that he had discussed the suit with Glee Smith, a member of the Regents, in the form of a legal deposition.
JESERICH SAID he probably would take one more decision, probably from one of the legislators who was a prime mover behind the tuition hike and the Kansas Scholarship Program in the 1978 Kansas Legislature.
"I'm really busy right now so I probably won't get to other deposition until after Christmas," Jeaniecki said. "I will be here."
Mike Davis, University general counsel, said his work on the case was at a standstill until the depositions were completed.
"There is not much we can do until we go through them
thoroughly," Davis said. "We might renew our motion to dismiss or we could just proceed to trial."
A court official in Topeka said there probably would be a pre-trial conference before the court heard any evidence.
THE OFFICIAL said the remaining count of the suit did not include enough evidence to allow Judge Carpenter to plead guilty.
The suit was filed by students fighting a fee increase that they cite as the highest of any state-supported school counselor.
After the Regents increased Med Center tuition from $1.125 to $3,000 a year for Kansas residents, and from $3,000 to $5,000 a year for non-residents, two scholarships are available. Students who practice in medically underserved areas of Kansas.
The students say that they are being forced to either pay the increased tuition or remain in the state.
JESERIK SAID he did not learn the Regents needed to raise tuition to get students to apply for the scholarships.
"They sure didn't need to raise the tuition," he said. "I think, and a lot of my clients have said, that they would have signed up anyway, especially with the $500 a month."
One of the scholarships offered under the program, Type I, covers all tuition fees and provides a monthly stipend of $60 during the academic year. For each year of college, students receive an end-of-year medicine for one year in an underserved area of Kansas.
Type II also covers all tuition fees but does not include the stipend. Recipients are obligated to practice one year in Kansas for each year they receive aid under the option, and contract does not specify any geographic area in Kansas.
University officials have said they were pleased with the number of students who signed up to receive the aid.
AT THE last Regents meeting, Nov. 17, the Board approved supplemental budget requests totaling $2,954,000 for fiscal years 1979 and 1980 to cover the cost of the equipment installed in the plant that was applied than had been expected when the budget was written.
Officials had estimated that 250 students would apply for the scholarships. However, 417 students have applied and are listed as receiving money this academic year. So they have applied for Type I and 183 have applied for Type II.
A large percentage of those students are participating in the lawsuit.
Jesierich said that if the court ruled in favor of the students, those paying full tuition instead of participating in the scholarship program would be refunded the difference between the new and old tuition rates.
Jesherick also said that if the court ruled in favor of the students, the terms of their scholarship contract would be changed.
He said the state probably would appeal if the court ruled in the students' favor.
Salina still requesting residency program
KANAS CITY, Kan. - A proposal to start a new medical residency program sponsored by the University of Kansas Medical Center has been turned down twice, but its supporters say they will try again to have a Salina program approved.
The program, the Family Practice Resident program, is designed to send more families to the clinic.
A family practitioner treats all members of a family and is similar to a general practitioner.
The Family Practice Residence Review Committee rejected Salina's application to take part in the program. Last year, an application by Garden City also was denied.
THE REQUESTS of the two cities were turned down because there were not enough physicians to adequately train a new influx of residents, the committee said.
Joseph Meek, director of the Health Care Outreach, of which the residency program is a part, said yesterday that Salina officials would reapply in January, after an evaluation of the amount and type of doctors in Salina was made.
Meek said he thought the re-evaluation would show the committee that Salina would be better off.
Participants in the program would practice one year of their residence at one of the schools.
Wichita. They would practice their second and third years of residency at one of the schools in Wichita.
Satma and Garden City are the only two hospitals that have applied to have affiliate hospital
Meek said the program would be beneficial to the state, the Med Center and the Health Department.
"IT'S GOOD for the state because it provides more family practitioners," he said. "It's good for the Med Center because it can help us provide a school to go to Kansas and perhaps stay."
"For the doctors, this can be a kind of tailor-made program. They can learn more in the state that they can at the rigid programs at the University."
Family practice residents have two options: they can take an out-of-state residency, or they can take one at the University.
Before a city can have a residency program, the city must be approved by a residency committee. The community is selected and then submitted to a committee than the Med Center, Meek said.
"The proposal has to come from the community, not the University," he said, "because the community will be the most affected by the program. After all, the doctors will be spending two thirds of their residencies there."
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