Med center move still under study

An ad hoc College committee is continuing to study the feasibility of moving the Dartmouth Medical School along with the rest of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to one of three proposed new locations in Lebanon. The College's support for the DHMC move was approved by the Trustees and, with some reservations, by the College faculty at the end of fall term.

But the question of whether the Medical School moves with the Hospital and Clinic won't be decided until the College Trustees' June meeting. In the meantime, the 15-member ad hoc committee, chaired by Thayer School professor John Strohbehn, has been consulting with Medical School and College faculty and held a public hearing on the matter. At issue is whether moving the Medical School would hamper the College's science programs that share Med School resources, or whether not keeping it with the Medical Center would hamper relations between research scientists at the Med School and practicing physicians at the Medical Center. The ramifications of moving just some of the Medical School's programs are also under study.

The way for a possible Medical School move was smoothed, however, by action taken by Hanover voters at Town Meeting in March. The College's preferred site of the three contemplated ones has been the so-called "Gile Tract" on Route 120 in Lebanon, just two miles from the campus. The 225-acre Gile Tract, owned by the Town of Hanover, was swapped in an agreement engineered by College and Town officials for 12 acres of College- owned land near Sachem Village, which the Town intends to use for recreation facilities, plus 158 acres of conservation easements and a cash payment from the College to the Town. Though some voters criticized the land swap as being one-sided in Dartmouth's favor, it was approved by a vote of 230 to 131.

College and DHMC personnel have also begun discussions with Lebanon city officials about the potential impact the proposed $200-million medical center would have on city services and planning.

Chuck Cole, associate director of the College's new Molecular Genetics Center, demonstrated thenewly-installed DNA synthesizer when the center opened during winter term. Molecular geneticsresearch has been going on at Dartmouth for some time, and the center, according to directorJohn Vournakis, will group and expand that research in one facility fitted with state-of-the-artequipment. Formation of the center was approved by the Trustees two years ago; a five-year $18-$20-million campaign will fund a permanent building, equipment, and endowment for facultysalaries for the center.