Just before adjourning this week, Oregon lawmakers approved a hefty $10 million for a potential new private college dedicated to teaching mental health professionals and other healthcare workers in Roseburg.

The goal is to create jobs and train healthcare professionals in rural Oregon, a region with an acute need for such professionals, said Wayne Patterson, executive director of the Umpqua Economic Development Partnership.

The college, if created, would be an extension of Newberg-based George Fox University. The state’s contribution doubles the amount of money pledged to help build the campus, something backers estimate will require $30 million to $40 million.

The proposed college would focus on preparing mental health therapists as well as allied health professionals – a broad term for healthcare workers other than doctors and nurses, including nutritionists, physical therapists and technicians.

“Allied health is a massive demand, and it’s almost recession proof,” Patterson said.

And the boon to rural Oregon would be huge, he predicted. Healthcare professionals who are trained in rural Oregon are more likely to stay and work there long-term compared to professionals who are transferred in from other places, he said.

“Workforce demand has only increased” in rural Southern Oregon since his group signed on to the project around six years ago, Patterson said.

“It’s been really difficult for our hospitals, clinics, and [Veterans’ Affairs office] to get the skilled professionals they need,” said Kelly Bantle, who works on communications and coalition-building for Oregonians for Rural Health.

In 2016, community and economic development groups, healthcare providers and educators banded together under the umbrella of Oregonians for Rural Health. The coalition has been instrumental in spearheading the proposed Roseburg college, and Patterson’s economic development partnership has taken on a managing role for the coalition.

In March, George Fox signed on and agreed to run and manage the college. A private Christian school, it already has satellite campuses in Portland, Salem and Redmond and offers graduate programs that prepare mental health counselors, physical therapists and physician assistants.

Kelly Morgan, CEO of Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, said in a statement, “George Fox is an established Oregon academic institution whose broad range of nationally accredited allied and mental health educational programs directly serve acute workforce needs shared by providers, including hospitals and medical facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Morgan has played a leadership role in the project since it began six years ago. As head of the largest hospital in Douglas County, where Roseburg is the county seat, Morgan said, “We just wanted to take the initiative” to train healthcare workers because the hospital has difficulty finding and hiring enough of them to meet the growing need.

Morgan said he feels confident the college will open, but he acknowledged it still has some funding gaps to meet. Backers plan to name it Southern Oregon Medical Workforce Center.

Patterson said the $10 million the state will provide from bond proceeds will cover about 25% to 35% of the costs to build the college. Roseburg’s City Council has committed to take out a loan of up to $10 million in support of the project. Patterson said the coalition is now looking to apply for grants and other sources of funding.

Statewide, Oregon has too small a pool of trained healthcare professionals, Bantle said. She cited the example of physical therapists. According to a report by the Oregon Legislature’s Rural Medical Training Facilities Workgroup, only two Oregon colleges offer degree programs to educate and train physical therapists. For the 2016-2017 school year, more than 1,600 people applied to those two programs, it said, and only 94 were admitted.

Bantle said the need for healthcare professionals will continue to grow in the coming years — both as more baby boomers retire and leave vacancies in the field and also as they create a greater demand for healthcare services.

That is particularly acute in the Roseburg area. “Southern Oregon’s population has been booming as retirees from California and other states move in,” Bantle said.

Currently, Douglas County’s only institution of higher education is Umpqua Community College, situated just north of Roseburg along the North Umpqua River. The nearest four-year school in southern Oregon, Southern Oregon University, is more than 100 miles from Roseburg in Ashland.

The college will offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, Patterson said. Now that the group has made significant progress raising money, Patterson, Morgan, and Oregonians for Rural Health say they are working out a more detailed timeline and plan for the college.

Bantle said the college will also offer an accelerated pathway for veterans with military medical experience, due to the project’s partnership with the Roseburg Veterans’ Affairs office. That would allow veterans who received medical training overseas to leverage those skills toward a healthcare degree stateside, Bantle said.

Due to George Fox’s existing accreditation, some classes could be taught immediately once the college opens, while others will require a longer accreditation process of two to three years, Patterson said. If George Fox’s accredited programs need supplementation, Bantle said, other colleges could be signed on to offer other degree programs at the planned Roseburg campus.

Building a college and bringing in a new population of students and college employees would provide new economic opportunities to the area, Patterson said. Students and faculty would need housing, places to eat, and other needs will foster new jobs and business opportunities.

“By turning Roseburg into a university town,” Patterson said, “we have an opportunity to shift the culture of the community.”

--Casey Chaffin; cchaffin@oregonian.com; @todaycaseysays