LA GRANDE – A proposed cut of 40 percent of the Oregon Health and Science University’s state funding could result in the closure of the undergraduate nursing program in La Grande.

This was the first option considered by the OHSU Board of Directors, said Associate Dean Jeanne Bowden.

Bowden heads the OHSU program at Eastern Oregon University. Other satellite nursing programs across Oregon might also be closed, with OHSU continuing to maintain an undergraduate program only at its Marquam Hill campus in Portland.

Students at EOU would find it very difficult to relocate, Burden said, and this option could mean the end of their studies.

Another option being considered, Bowden said, would be a steep increase in tuition rates. “Probably it would double,” Bowden said.

OHSU’s concern was in response to Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s 2005-2007 budget proposal. This would reduce OHSU’s state funding by $33 million for the next biennium. It is currently at $86 million. The level of state funding in the 1993-1995 biennium was $123.6 million.

The school is looking at ways of dealing with the shortfall or for ways to avert it. It faces a deadline of Jan. 15 to come up with some kind of decision. This is the date that applications for next year’s students are due.

“We’ll have to tell students they have a program,” Bowden said.

“We don’t want to lose a full year of nursing students,” said Rachel MacKnight, spokeswoman for the university’s office of information in Portland.

Macknight said the school is looking at a tuition model that would increase tuition for the class of 2005 to the point necessary to stay open. They may be forced to do this, she said, because there is not enough time to work with the Legislature before January.

OHSU would then continue its efforts to have funding restored. The increased tuition could be refunded in scholarships if this effort is successful, MacKnight said.

According to Bowden, the present cap on student financial aid of about $10,500 per year would cause difficulty for many students. Tuition for the program is presently about $11,000 per year.

The OHSU program has three aspects, education, practice and research, Bowden said. This has meant that the school of nursing is thoroughly embedded in the community.

“We supply the nurses for the eastern region,” she said.

OHSU maintains health care clinics in Elgin and Union as well as the student health service at the university. Health services for adults and children are offered through the Health Network for Rural Schools, Healthy Start and Covering Kids and Families.

A new research lab has been built since the school of nursing moved into EOU’s new science building. Anne Greenlee, a researcher from Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, will now be working on toxicology and environmental effects on health for OHSU.

The same week the school learned of the potential funding cuts, they received funds from EOU for state of the art simulation equipment. The Economic Development Assistance grant was for $150,000.

Bowden said that efforts to increase assistance from other health care partners would continue. Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande and Burns Hospital now cover the cost of a year of internship for OHSU students.