TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie announced today that he has accepted an advisory committee's plan to overhaul medical education in the state, including a revamped University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, and an expanded research university in South Jersey by combining Rowan University and Rutgers-Camden.

The new health sciences university in Newark would be renamed New Jersey Health Sciences University, and the publicly owned University Hospital would be run by a private management company.

Christie said the plan would “refocus” UMDNJ’s Newark-based schools, and grant autonomy to the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, the University Behavioral Health Care in Piscataway, and the Public Health Research Institute in Newark.

In South Jersey, Rowan University, with its main campus in Glassboro and a satellite in Camden, would be expanded to include the future Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, which is currently under construction; as well as Rutgers-Camden, including the schools of law and business.

Earlier this year, the five-member task force headed by Dr. Sol J. Barer, a former chief executive of Celgene, recommended giving Rutgers three of UMDNJ's most successful pieces: Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the School of Public Health and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Christie said today he was reaffirming those recommendations.

Christie said he would work with Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) to implement the changes, but he declined to be specific about how that would be accomplished. If he submits the reorganization plan to the state Legislature, it would have 60 days to reject the measures.

He said the changes would give UMDNJ, long plagued by ethical and financial difficulties, a chance to “fully turn the page” on past missteps.

“We have missed opportunities and failed to identify long term strategies for our institutions to grow,” he said at a Statehouse press conference, adding: “We cannot compete in this state with good but not great educational institutions at any level.”

When Christie was the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey he launched an investigation of UMDNJ. “It was corrupt and ineffective absolute pit of political patronage," he said "It had some good sides too, but the bad things affected the good things.”

Few issues are more delicate in Newark than the fate of UMDNJ. The campus' formation in 1970 came at a time of major upheaval, and was considered by many to be a land grab, displacing thousands of city residents.

While performing an invaluable function as a trauma center, research hospital, and economic engine, UMDNJ was been mired scandal for a number of years.

Denise V. Rodgers, an executive vice president at the Newark-based school, took over as interim president on Jan. 1.

Related coverage:

• UMDNJ officials torn over possible dismantling, merger with Rutgers

• In task force report, UMDNJ faces third call to merge with Rutgers University in a decade

• N.J. higher education task force proposes plan to merge Rutgers University, UMDNJ

• Gov. Christie to unveil task force report on higher education, restructuring of UMDNJ, Rutgers, NJIT