A plan submitted to the Board of Regents by MCG calls for the medical school, it’s health system and physicians group to be consolidated under a single advisory board.

According to officials, incoming president Dr. Ricardo Aziz will head-up the new board if the plan is approved.

Dr. Doug Miller, Dean of MCG’s school of medicine, says combining the three branches could save money. The savings in turn could then be used to improve access to care and fund academic programs.

"We try to combine those missions in education, research and clinical service in such a way that they are efficient but I think an integrated academic health center has a greater potential for delivering those services in efficient ways and maintaining programming across that breadth of offerings," said Miller.

Recently several of MCG’s academic programs were in danger of being eliminated due to state budget cuts.

Tags: Medical College of Georgia, MCG, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, consolidation, Dr. Ricardo Aziz, Dr. Doug Miller