From left to right: Larry Palmer, director of the VCU/W&M Health Policy and Law initiative; Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder, VCU president Eugene Trani and W&M Interim President W. Taylor Reveley III at the May 15, 2008 announcement.
Two Colonial Academic Alliance institutions have announced a signature collaboration to address one of the most difficult issues facing U.S. communities today – health policy.
The VCU-William and Mary Health Policy and Law initiative will bring together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines from the two institutions to conduct research, provide public service and offer joint degree programs that focus on solving topical problems in health policy, law and bioethics.
“This is a new form of inter-institutional collaboration in Virginia,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani. “As public institutions of higher education, we are pooling the resources of two major universities to leverage our strengths in public policy, health and law to help solve a major problem.”
Faculty and students from VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the VCU School of Medicine and the William & Mary Law School will work together in the initiative, the ultimate goal of which is to establish a Center for Health Policy and Law.
“Our two institutions recognized that the most meaningful way to address health care issues was to bring together our expertise in law, health and public policy,” said William and Mary Interim President, W. Taylor Reveley, III. “In particular, we want to increase the understanding of the role that the law plays in the complex process of health policy development.”
The initiative’s first service-learning project is a Veterans Disability Clinic, a pilot program set to launch in January 2009, that will involve William and Mary law students helping veterans with disability claims and other legal matters, while students from the VCU Department of Psychology will provide counseling, assessments and referrals to community agencies and medical providers.
The initiative also will act as a strategic partner for other centers at the universities, such as VCU’s Centers for Health Disparities and Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, and William and Mary’s Schroeder Center for Healthcare Policy.
The initiative will be housed at the Theater Row Building in downtown Richmond close to VCU’s medical campus and at the Law School at William and Mary.
The VCU-William and Mary Health Policy and Law initiative will bring together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines from the two institutions to conduct research, provide public service and offer joint degree programs that focus on solving topical problems in health policy, law and bioethics.
“This is a new form of inter-institutional collaboration in Virginia,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani. “As public institutions of higher education, we are pooling the resources of two major universities to leverage our strengths in public policy, health and law to help solve a major problem.”
Faculty and students from VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the VCU School of Medicine and the William & Mary Law School will work together in the initiative, the ultimate goal of which is to establish a Center for Health Policy and Law.
