Indiana launches Crossroads medical institute

Indiana’s new Crossroads Academic Medical Institute is a workforce project built around geography. The partnership, announced in Indianapolis on May 19, links Marian University, Purdue University, The Catholic University of America and a group of Indiana health systems in what organizers call a distributed academic medical center rather than a single flagship teaching hospital. The model is meant to coordinate medical education, research and clinical training across existing campuses, hospitals and community sites statewide. Organizers say that structure is designed to expand training capacity and place more learners in the parts of Indiana that struggle most to recruit clinicians. ### Why are Indiana leaders building this as a network instead of one campus? The Crossroads Academic Medical Institute, or CAMI, was launched as a statewide network that connects universities, health systems and clinical training sites across Indiana, according to Marian University’s May 19 release. Instead of centering teaching, research and patient care around one hospital campus, the institute is structured to use multiple hospitals and community settings as training sites. (wishtv.com) WISH-TV reported that the collaboration is aimed at expanding clinical-education programs and partnerships to grow Indiana’s health-care workforce and improve access to care. Indiana Public Media similarly reported that organizers see the network as a way to widen medical training and improve rural health access while creating more opportunities for research collaboration. (marian.edu) ### Who is in the partnership? Marian University, Purdue University and The Catholic University of America are the academic institutions named in the launch. Health-care partners listed by Marian University include Community Health Network, Ascension St. Vincent, Parkview Health, Margaret Mary Health, Hancock Health, Daviess Community Hospital, Deaconess Health System and the Indiana Rural Health Association. (wishtv.com) Governor Mike Braun joined university and health-care leaders in Indianapolis to announce the initiative, according to Marian University and multiple local reports. The Catholic University of America is also expected to help develop what Marian described as a complementary national model for Catholic academic medicine. ### What problem is CAMI trying to solve? (marian.edu) Daniel J. Elsener, Marian University’s president, said the state’s training pipeline has a bottleneck after medical school. Indiana Public Media quoted Elsener saying the state is educating “500 and some doctors a year” but has only “300 and some residency slots,” pushing many graduates to leave Indiana for residency programs in neighboring states and, in many cases, not return. (marian.edu) Daviess Community Hospital President and CEO Tracy Sayre said in a local republication of the release that CAMI could support growth through clinical training opportunities in rural areas and new residency programs in underserved communities. That focus matches the institute’s stated goal of using statewide partnerships to place more training closer to where provider shortages are most acute. (ipm.org) ### How is the institute supposed to work in practice? Marian University said its Tom and Julie Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine will serve as the academic anchor for medical education, working alongside Purdue’s research enterprise and hospital partners across the state. The institute is intended to coordinate medical education, research and clinical training through that network rather than by building a new stand-alone academic medical center. (thelintonian.com) That means the near-term work is less about opening a new hospital than aligning existing sites, faculty relationships and residency development. Based on the launch materials and local coverage, CAMI’s next phase will involve partner institutions using those statewide clinical sites to expand rotations, research ties and residency pathways, with Governor Braun and the named hospital systems backing the rollout announced on May 19. (marian.edu)