At the behest of State Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Dist. 92, State Rep. Shawn Webster, R-Dist. 53, chairman of the Higher Education Subcommittee of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, for the first time toured OU-COM Jan. 19 and met with the medical school’s dean, Jack Brose, D.O., and Ohio University President Roderick McDavis, Ph.D., and several other college officials. Stewart is vice chairman of the subcommittee.

It was not Webster’s first visit to the Athens campus, however. Webster recalled a visit to Ohio University for the grand opening of its Convocation Center, home of the university’s basketball team, in 1968. “OU played Ohio State,” said Webster.

Webster, a practicing veterinarian, grew up in Ironton. He said he’s “a state representative on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a veterinarian on Monday, Friday and Saturday.”

Accompanied by the college’s legislative liaison, George Dunigan; Brose;  Stewart; and John Schriner, director of admissions, Webster saw the college’s newly revamped osteopathic manipulative medicine lab, the gross anatomy lab, Irvine lecture halls, Learning Resource Center and patient simulation lab.

“You’ve got good facilities. I’m very glad I visited, and I’m happy to see that you’re serving people that otherwise wouldn’t get medical care,” said Webster. “I think it’s absolutely wonderful that such a significant number of your graduates are primary care physicians. That’s extremely important.”

Fifty-seven percent of the college’s graduates are in primary care, and 64 percent of the college’s practice in Ohio. Thirty-nine percent practice in communities of 50,000 or fewer.

After the tour, Webster discussed several of his concerns regarding health care, the state budget and education in Ohio.

“One thing that been a frustration for me is trying to convince people that preventive medicine is cost effective. All they typically see is the upfront money.”

A lot of money in the state’s budget, said Webster, is spent treating diseases that could be eliminated by preventive medicine.

But preventive medicine and health education have to go hand-in-hand and be programmed in a consistent manner in order for them to result in cost-effective disease reduction, said Webster.

Those are the kinds of programs that the college’s Mobile Health Vans bring to 21 counties through Community Service Programs’ cancer and diabetes screenings, a variety of health clinics and health education efforts, noted Stewart. 

In preparation for submitting his subcommittee’s budget, Webster said he’s educating himself about every line item that’s a part of the budget.

“We’re just going to take a hard look at the budget and make sure that everybody is being treated fairly,” he said.

“Even though Jimmy and I come from districts — and we certainly want to do the best for our districts, as far as projects and a fair share — we’re really here for Ohio, and we’re focused on Ohioans and not just individual districts. At least, that’s certainly my philosophy. I’m from the 53^rd District, which is part of Butler County, but I work for all Ohioans.”

Unfortunately, he says, he can’t see where there will be any new money, but he said he will work very hard to make sure everyone gets their fair share of the money that is available.

“My goal is not to have winners and losers. The winners need to be all Ohioans.”

The state’s education budget loomed large in Webster’s discussion with McDavis. He invited McDavis to speak to his committee regarding any concerns he might have with the state’s funding to the university.

Any additional funding state-supported schools might receive would be to assure they were getting their fair share. And that additional funding would come from reallocations not new money, said Webster.

The direction of education in Ohio also was among his concerns, of which remediation and the findings of the commission for higher education and the economy figured prominently.

“I really want to address the remediation problems we’re having. We have to better prepare the students that come out of high school for the universities and colleges,” he told McDavis, “but the universities and colleges have an obligation to let the secondary people know what they expect. We need some uniformity.

“Rep. Stewart and I were on the commission for higher education and the economy and its report wants a 30 percent increase in baccalaureates in 10 years. The only way we’re going to get there is to marshal our efforts. That’s the only way we’ll get there.

“If we’re going to be serious about what the higher education commission came out with, we’ve got to have a statewide higher education system.”