By Caleb Taylor
MONTGOMERY — Demopolis is the best spot for a new Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences, according to a feasibility study released this week.
New York-based Bloomberg Philanthropies announced in January they were donating $26.4 million to the State of Alabama to assist in funding a potential new health sciences high school in Demopolis.
Bloomberg listed the “University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System and other state health systems and hospitals” as the school’s health care partners and estimated it would be open by at least 2026.
The idea for the school was first announced by Gov. Kay Ivey in her State of the State address before the legislative session in 2023. However, a $30 million funding request for start-up funding by Ivey to the Legislature never advanced in the 2023 session. Instead, legislators approved a $500,000 feasibility study to examine establishing such a school.
Ivey again put $30 million in her proposed budget in 2024, but it will need the legislature’s approval.
“I’m hopeful that it will get through. Demopolis came back number one to be the best place to put that school. This is going to be a return we can see on our investment in the State of Alabama. I believe that this is the best spot, and we’re going to fight for it. I don’t know if it’s going to be a walk-through, but we’re definitely going to be there to make our case for it,” Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), who represents Demopolis, told reporters on Thursday.
The school’s estimated start-up and construction cost would be about $62 million. According to the study, annual staff and enrollment costs would be about $8.7 million. The study projects the school’s enrollment at 325 students.
Consultants wrote in the feasibility study, “Alabama desperately needs a state-sponsored residential health science high school to meet current and future healthcare workforce challenges.”