A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO appropriate funds to the board of governors of the university of north carolina FOR THE brody school of medicine at east carolina university to construct a family medicine center.
Whereas, the current Eastern Carolina Family Practice Center at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University was constructed in 1975 and since that time has been the training home for more than 250 family doctors, most of whom practice in North Carolina; and 
Whereas, in any accredited residency training program for family medicine, the "Center" is the centerpiece; and
Whereas, the "Center" is as important to the family physicians as state‑of‑the‑art operating rooms are to the training of surgeons; and
Whereas, the Eastern Carolina Family Practice Center is outdated and overcrowded, and therefore the Department of Family Medicine can no longer effectively compete in the recruitment of residents, fellows, and faculty; and
Whereas, inadequate facilities represent a challenge to delivery of quality care for our citizenry; and
Whereas, states with the highest number of "general practitioners" per 1,000 patients rank significantly higher, both in terms of quality and cost‑effectiveness of health care; and
Whereas, without a new Family Medicine Center at the Brody School of Medicine, a population of people with some of the worst health indicators in the nation is going to be even more threatened; and
Whereas, family physicians receive four years of medical school education followed by a minimum of three years of specialty training; and
Whereas, students who are trained in a state‑of‑the‑art facility, motivated by the full scope and range of responsibilities the challenging discipline demands, and are strongly mentored in such an environment are much more likely to become family physicians and remain in North Carolina; and
Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly founded a medical school at East Carolina University, with a stated mission to train primary care (family care) physicians; and
Whereas, over seventy‑five percent of medical school graduates who complete their residency training in family medicine at our affiliated major teaching hospital, Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, under the direct supervision of the medical school faculty, remain in North Carolina to practice medicine; and
Whereas, the vast majority provides critically needed care in rural and underserved communities; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina for the Brody School of Medicine the sum of forty million dollars ($40,000,000) for the 2005‑2006 fiscal year to construct the Family Medicine Center at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.