LIFE SCIENCES SPOKANE

We are providing community leadership to create and execute the vision for a comprehensive, world-class, center of academic health sciences medical education, and life sciences research and commercialization resulting in robust life sciences industry growth with unprecedented economic impact to the Spokane region. This vision, targeting full build out by 2030, encompasses expanded undergraduate and graduate medical education; health and life sciences research, commercialization and business development; and community health care. It has the potential to transform our local economy by building on our community’s largest economic driver – health care.

This project is the single largest Economic Development opportunity for our region
It all started with an initiative called VISION 2030, an economic development strategy to create robust health care and life sciences industry growth, projecting an annual economic impact of more than $1.7 billion and over 9,000 jobs for our region by 2030. This initiative led to the development of a focus on building Life Sciences in our community called Life Sciences Spokane. Life Sciences Spokane is led by GSI in partnership with business, health care, and education sectors, includes the expansion of world-class undergraduate and graduate medical education, allied health professions, and health and life sciences research and commercialization. This has the ability to transform our local economy by building on our community’s largest economic driver – health care.

The need for a robust medical and health sciences education system in the Spokane region
Why Spokane? Our region is experiencing a growing shortage of primary care physicians, particularly in rural and underserved areas in eastern Washington. Spokane has all the building blocks for creating a robust medical education and research center. Our region has a dense proximity of six higher education institutions, a unique collaboration between institutions and close proximity to the University District. Life Sciences Spokane serves as a catalyst for new research and commercialization, new employment opportunities, will spur innovation and startups, grow household income and the health of our community and individuals within our community.

How is GSI leading the comprehensive vision for our region?
As the lead business development organization in the region, GSI has been working for over a decade with community and higher education partners to shape the comprehensive vision and provides community leadership and strategic oversight. GSI’s work to advance this initiative includes everything from providing state and federal legislative advocacy for the expansion of undergraduate and graduate medical education, to working to fill the health sciences workforce gap in our community. 

• Four-Year Undergraduate Medical Education: Four-year medical education serves as a foundation for an integrated strategy that addresses our region’s critical shortage of physicians, provides more opportunities for Washington students seeking medical education and creates the basic infrastructure for realizing full economic impact. The University District is the home to both the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine alongsite the University of Washington Gonzaga University Regional Health Partnership, WWAMI's four-year medical school program in Spokane.
• Graduate Medical Education (Residencies): Graduate Medical Education (GME), the required education following graduation of medical school, is the most influential aspect for a physician choosing the place to practice medicine. In order to address our region’s primary care physician shortage, it’s critical to grow the number of resident positions as Spokane’s four-year medical school programs expand.
• Research & Life Sciences Industry Growth: The growth of academic and industry research in health and life sciences and the resulting growth in the life sciences commercial sector with entrepreneurial spin-off opportunities in health care and in other industries, is a critical component of achieving the 2030 economic impact projections.

To learn more contact: Stacia Rasmussen, Business Manager at 509.321-3637.