State Roundup

Mount Pleasant
CMU med school marks arrival of its first students
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — Central Michigan University welcomed its first group of doctors-in-training for a ceremony Sunday to mark the start of their professional education and the opening of the school’s new medical school.
The class of 64 medical students participated in a “white coat ceremony” as members start a 4-year -program. The students will spend their first 2 years on the school’s Mount Pleasant campus. After that, they continue at sites in Saginaw.
The Saginaw facilities will include a Central Michigan University campus and sites linked to Covenant HealthCare and St. Mary’s of Michigan.
Central Michigan says 37 of the students are women, 57 are Michigan natives and 11 students are Central Michigan graduates, according to MLive.com. They were selected from about 2,700 applicants.
“As the only medical school in Michigan training doctors to address the needs of residents and families living in more rural regions, we selected students with a passion for medically underserved communities,” medical school Dean Ernie Yoder said in a statement.
Planning for the medical school began in 2008 in the face of forecasts of a shortage of U.S.-trained doctors. At the time, the University of Michigan and Michigan State and Wayne State universities operated Michigan’s only medical schools. Western Michigan and Oakland universities also have launched medical schools.
Central Michigan University trustee Sarah Opperman said that the school set out to admit 80 percent of its students from Michigan. The actual percentage was 89 percent.
“We met our goal, plus some,” she said.
Next year, the medical school will admit 104 students, the Morning Sun reported. Each year, the college will add students to reach a full capacity of 400 students.

Lansing
State to partner with Illinois on Medicaid tech
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is sharing its Medicaid technology system with Illinois to save both states and the federal governments tens of millions of dollars.
The states say their unprecedented alliance will let Illinois access Michigan’s Medicaid Management Information System. It’s the technology that supports the state’s Medicaid program.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
Illinois’ current legacy system is more than 30 years old.
Illinois could save $67 million and the federal government $272 million under the arrangement. Michigan could cut its operation and maintenance costs by 20 percent and potentially save $10 million over five years.

East Lansing
Expert: Mich. West Nile won’t be as bad as 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An expert on West Nile virus predicts Michigan’s season won’t be as bad as 2012.
Ned Walker at Michigan State University says cool, wet conditions tend to slow down transmission of the virus. He says West Nile is inevitable, but he believes the number of cases will be lower this year.
State health officials last week reported the first confirmed human case of 2013, a man from St. Joseph County in southwestern Michigan.
There were more than 200 West Nile cases in Michigan last year, including 17 deaths. It’s commonly spread by mosquitoes.
Walker says the infection rate typically goes up when there are high temperatures. Experts recommend people use repellant, wear long sleeves at dusk and dawn and eliminate standing water.

Portage
Restoration set for plane found in Lake Michigan
PORTAGE, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan aviation museum is helping to restore a World War-II era plane that was recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan.
The plane crashed during aircraft-carrier training near Waukegan, Ill., on Dec. 28, 1944. The FM-2 “Wildcat” Fighter went down in about 200 feet of water in an accident blamed on engine failure. Crews recovered in December after it was in the water for nearly 70 years.
TV stations WOOD and WWMT report the Air Zoo, an aviation museum and attraction in southwestern Michigan, planned to show off the plane Monday. The Air Zoo’s Flight and Restoration Center, a Smithsonian affiliate, is directing the restoration project.
The Naval Aviation Museum Foundation sponsored the recovery and plans call for the plane to eventually go on display in the Chicago area.r