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THURSDAY06.22.17

Tyler Summitt’s‘whole other life’ SPORTS, 1B

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TN-TEN0017222-04

Middle Tennessee State University and MeharryMedical College are joining forces to tackle the state’sdoctor shortage by creating a pioneering, state-subsi-dized fast track from undergraduate to medical school.

Students accepted into the special program wouldattend three years at MTSU, earn a bachelor’s degreeand then go straight into three years of medical schoolat Meharry, according to an early outline of the plan.

A $750,000 pot of state funding would offset theirtuition.

In return the students would have to agree to workfor at least two years in parts of Tennessee that needdoctors the most.

The state has fewer primary care physicians percapita than the national average, a shortage that ismore acute in rural counties.

The state average has one primary care physicianfor every 1,558 residents. Nationally, that figure is1,463 people per primary care doctor.

In rural Crockett County, the ratio is 14,668 people toone doctor, according to 2017 County Health Rankings.

MTSU, Meharry alliance to pumpprimary care doctors into rural TNProgram would commit studentsto areas that most need physiciansADAM TAMBURIN AND HOLLY FLETCHERUSA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

See Doctors, Page 2A

In hopes of renovating a historic cem-etery that lies neglected under densevegetation, Murfreesboro land ownerBob Davidson decided to use an organicmethod.

He hired goats.“This is the old graveyard. We’re hav-

ing The Goat Guys come and clean upsome of this,” said Davidson, pointing totombstones strewn on the ground as doz-ens of goats hopped up and over them toget the greenery.

One of the tombstones belongs to Bur-

rell Gannaway, one of Murfreesboro’sfirst city leaders who owned a largeplantation in what is known as the Bar-field Community. The Gannaway ceme-tery was the topic of a story last year af-ter a local man traced the roots of hisslave ancestors back to the family.

“The groundhogs kind of messed upthe foundation and toppled everythingover,” said Davidson, motioning to thestrewn array of stones. “But we’re goingto get it cleaned up, and we’re going totry to renovate it as much as we can.”

Herd mentalityAround 60 goats trampled in and

around the thick grove of invasive plantssuch as privet, honeysuckle vines, bam-boo and poison ivy that surrounds a col-lection pond.

“The goats are munching away,” saidJosh Delozier, co-owner of The GoatGuys, a natural brush removal servicebased in Franklin.

When Delozier first lets the goats offthe trailer, the herd makes a beeline forthe green, often bumping into each otheras they vie for the best spot.

“Let’s go ladies,” Delozier called andmotioned to the herd, which is com-

NO KIDDING

NANCY DEGENNARO/DNJ

Goats owned by The Goat Guys chomp on overgrown vegetation to help homeowner Bob Davidson clear out and clean up a historic cemeteryon his property.

Goats help clean up neglected Murfreesboro cemetery NANCY DE GENNAROUSA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

See Goats, Page 2A

EATONTON, Ga. - Two Georgia in-mates accused of killing two prisonguards during an escape from a pris-on bus last week face charges includ-ing murder.

Multiple news outlets reportedthat Donnie Russell Rowe and RickyDubose appeared in Putnam CountySuperior Court on Wednesday. Ajudge told them they’re charged withtwo counts of murder and one counteach of felony escape and motor vehi-cle hijacking.

The judge declined to set bond.The two men are accused of killing

Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Cur-tis Billue in the bus on state Highway16 in Putnam County, southeast of At-lanta, on June 13 as they were beingmoved from one prison to another.Authorities said they then carjacked adriver and fled in the stolen car.

They were arrested two days laterin Tennessee.

Inmates accusedof killing prisonguards facemurder chargesMen were arrested inTennessee after escapingASSOCIATED PRESS

BOB ANDRES/AJC VIA AP, POOL

Ricky Dubose, left, looks toward the pressin the balcony as he and Donnie RussellRowe appear in Putnam County Court onWednesday in Eatonton, Ga. The twoinmates accused of killing their guards ona Georgia prison bus were brought beforea judge on charges including murder,felony escape and hijacking a motorvehicle.

2A • THE DAILY NEWS JOURNAL • THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2017

news

JENNINGS & AYERS FUNERAL HOMEjenningsandayers.com

TN-0001141600

Tuesday, June 20, 2017 Survived by devoted family; husband, William Junior Nelson, children, Javon Edward and Kennedi Machelle; parents, Ralph and Machelle Thompson; bro ther, Qu in ton (Brittany) Thompson; grandparents, Joseph and JoAnn Blair and Johnny Fleming; aunt, Angela Shelton; uncle, Michael Fleming; par-ent-in-laws, William and Marie Nelson; other devoted nieces, cousins, other relatives and friends. Family visita-tion Thursday, June 22, 2017 from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Cummins Street Church of Christ, 511 Cummins Street, Franklin, TN. Services Friday, June 23, 2017- Lie-in-State from 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Family Visitation from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon with funeral services im-mediately following at Green Meadow Church of Christ, 348 Squire Hall Road, Shelbyville, TN. Brother Burnes Lyons, Eulogist. Inter-ment Lovvorn Cemetery, Barfield, TN. NELSON AND SONS CHAPEL, 448 E. BURTON STREET, MURFREES-BORO, TN 37130 (615) 494-5001

LATOYA S. NELSONMurfreesboro, TN

Vera A. Powell, age 76, of Middlesboro, Kentucky, formerly of Smyrna, Ten-nessee, passed away on June 18, 2017. She was preceded by her parents, Elsie and Floyd Wilson, husband, Robert E. Powell, and brother-in-law, Hubert Dunn.

Survivors include her sisters, Dorlene Dunn of Middlesboro and Norma Gilbert of Bremen; her

daughter Charlene Bergstresser of Vero Beach, Florida; four step-children, Melody Powell, David Powell, Buddy Powell, and Tony Powell; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Vera retired from Ingram Content Group in 2000 after 18 years of service.

Visitation will be Friday, June 23, 2017 from 2:00 p.m. until the time of funeral services beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Woodfin Chapel, Smyrna. Burial will follow in Roselawn Memorial Gardens with family and friends serving as pallbearers. An online guestbook is available for the family at www.woodfinchapel.com.

VERA POWELLMiddlesboro, KY

Collins, Jr., Edward | Murfreesboro, TN | 77 | 6/19 | Arrangements are pending. | Neighbours Life Celebration Services | 615-885-0012Ezell, Betty Jo | Hermitage | 77 | 6/16 | 6/17 4:00 PM New Hope Baptist Church | Neighbours Life Celebration Services | 615-885-0012LaFont, Karen | Nashville, TN | 73 | 6/18 | Arrangements are pending | Neigbours Life Celebration Services | 615-885-0012Nelson, LaToya S. | Murfreesboro, TN | 37 | 6/20 | 6/23 12:00 PM Green Meadow Church of Christ | Nelson and Sons Chapel | 615-494-5001Powell, Vera | Middlesboro, KY | 76 | 6/18 | 6/23 3:00 PM Woodfin Chapel | Woodfin Chapel | 615-459-3254Williams, Amy | Nashville, TN | 41 | 6/17 | Arrangements are pending | Neighbours Life Celebration Services | 615-885-0012

Death Notices Name City, State Age Death Day, Time & Place of Service Funeral Home Phone

The highest ratio in thestate.

Details are still beinghammered out, but thepresidents of MTSU andMeharry will officiallycommit to developing theprogram Thursday dur-ing a ceremony at thestate Capitol. The plan isto begin enrolling stu-dents in fall 2018.

Partnership first in Tennessee

The public-privatepartnership is the first ofits kind in Tennessee, andamong the first of its kindin the nation. State offi-cials cast the plan as anattempt to harness thework of higher educationto solve one of Tennes-see’s most pressing prob-lems.

Tennessee struggleswith poor health and highrates of chronic diseasethat impact both qualityof life and the state’s eco-nomic vitality.

Health care is movingtoward an emphasis onprimary care as a way tohelp keep people healthi-er and chronic diseases incheck. But the burden ofhigh student debt and thelack of rural training op-tions make recruitingphysicians to smallertowns a challenge.

Tennessee currentlyhas 4,072 primary carephysicians. The state isprojected to need 1,107more by 2030 to accountfor growing populationsand physicians who re-tire, according to analysis

from the Robert GrahamCenter.

“There is a short sup-ply of primary physi-cians,” said Dr. JamesHildreth, president ofMeharry. “I also thinkthere’s a problem of mal-distribution.”

The support fromstate’s top leaders andlawmakers as well ashigher education officialsspeaks to the state’s open-ness to innovation to findsolutions, Hildreth said.

“Higher education hasthe ability to attack awide array of state chal-lenges, and we know rightnow in Tennessee that wehave a public health chal-lenge,” said Mike Krause,executive director of theTennessee Higher Educa-tion Commission. “This isan example of where ahigher education initia-tive can really impactpeople’s quality of life.”

Program could besignificant for thestate, Meharry, MTSU

The move also pre-sents massive potentialbenefits for both colleges.

The program show-cases Meharry’s long-

standing commitment toprimary care and posi-tions it as a leader withinthe state by training doc-tors who will embed intothe fabric of communi-ties.

“We just thought Me-harry had a role to play insolving this problem,”Hildreth said. “We’re go-ing to be looking for stu-dents who have the com-mitment to go back totheir communities andserve them.”

By linking with MTSUto advertise the opportu-nity to students state-wide, Meharry can bur-nish its reputation andgrow its recruitmentpool.

The historically blackcollege has strong ties toFisk University and Ten-nessee State University,which will remain inplace. MTSU was an idealpartner for this project,Hildreth said, because itattracts strong studentsfrom all 95 counties.

MTSU has also invest-ed heavily in growing itsscience programming. Anew $147 million sciencebuilding opened on cam-pus in 2014 and earlierthis year the universitycompleted $45 million inrenovations to older sci-ence buildings.

“This is a testament tothe quality of their stu-dents and the quality oftheir programs,” Hil-dreth said.

Leaders at both institu-tions envision the pro-gram as highly competi-tive — they estimate 20-25 students will be ac-cepted in the first year.

Meharry will beginbringing the students toits Nashville campus asundergraduates. The stu-dents will have to be “tru-ly outstanding,” Hildrethsaid, because “we’re com-pressing the curriculumconsiderably and the de-mands on the studentswill be considerable.”

MTSU will leveragethe plan to compete forhigh-caliber studentsfrom across the state whoare more likely to stay incollege and finish early —two metrics that wouldboost the university’s

state funding.“For us we get the

cream of the crop,”MTSU President SidneyMcPhee said. “We will beable to attract some of thehighest ability students inthe state, not just the Mid-dle Tennessee area.”

The move stands toheighten MTSU’s profile,and its ability to competewith other state and re-gional universities, bylinking the school with aprofessional degree pro-gram — somethingMTSU does not have now.

“I think it will takeMTSU to the next level,”said state Sen. Bill Ke-tron, a Murfreesboro Re-publican who helped bro-ker the deal and get statefunding. “In people’sminds it raises the bar ofthe institution’s percep-tion.”

Tennessee has twopublic medical schools:the University of Tennes-see Health Science Cen-ter based in Memphis,with satellite campuseselsewhere, and East Ten-nessee State Universityin Johnson City.

McPhee brushed asidethe notion that anotherstate-supported pipelineinto medical school would hurt other univer-sities.

“This is taking nothingaway” from the state’smedical schools, he said.“There is a lot of work fora lot of folks to do.”

Leaders teamed withcolleges to bringplan into focus

Leaders at MTSU andMeharry have been quiet-ly exploring a potentialpartnership for years,with the support of Ke-tron and other state lead-ers.

Hildreth recently metwith Ketron and Lt. Gov.Randy McNally, R-OakRidge, to outline how anMTSU-Meharry partner-ship could help with theprimary care shortage.They were immediatelyinterested.

Hildreth said Ketronwas instrumental in push-ing the plan’s merits and“gets a great deal of cred-it for pulling this off.”

The senator securedstate funding earlier thisyear by sliding a $750,000line item into a lengthybudget amendment.

Ketron said he envi-sioned the state fundingas “seed money” for anendowment-style fundthat could sustain thepartnership indefinitely.He predicted that, oncethe program hits itsstride, it would be easierto get private donationsand grants for continuedfinancial aid.

Plan could keepstudents from lettingdebt cause issues

Tuition help could be acritical component for al-truistic students whowant to do good in under-served communities.

Nicholas Conley, a re-cent Meharry graduatefrom Nashville whostayed there for his resi-dency, said some of hispeers scrapped plans togo into primary care be-cause of crippling studentdebt.

Many of those studentsdecided to pursue high-paying jobs as specialistsso they could repay theirloans.

Conley said the newpartnership “will allowpeople to follow theirhearts instead of havingto follow their pocket-books.”

“Being able to targetand reach out to thosepeople whose hearts arein the right place and get-ting them locked in earlywill greatly benefit Ten-nessee,” he said.

More work, growthcould be in future

For the program towork, MTSU and Mehar-ry will need to reach outto rural and small townhospitals to set up resi-dency programs, Hil-dreth said.

Often students stay inthe areas where they dotheir residencies aftermedical school, so gettingthem out of the Nashville-Murfreesboro corridorwill be key, he said.

“That’s how youchange the dynamics ofwhere they practice,” Hil-dreth said.

Hospitals in Georgiahave a similar program,and Hildreth thinks thatrural hospitals will be ex-cited about the prospectof bringing in residents,especially if they are like-ly to practice nearby.

Should the model suc-ceed, leaders at MTSUand Meharry say they areinterested in expanding itto include other healthcare roles.

The agreement men-tions exploring a similartrack for dentists.McPhee, the MTSU presi-dent, said “the future andthe possibilities are limit-less.

“We see this as just thefirst step.”

Reach Adam Tambu-rin at 615-726-5986 andatamburin@tennesse-an.com. Follow him onTwitter @tamburint-weets. Reach HollyFletcher at hfletch-er@tennessean.com or615-259-8287 and on Twit-ter @hollyfletcher.

DoctorsContinued from Page 1A

prised mostly of adult females with afew baby goats. “They love the honey-suckle and the privet, and they want tobe the first one to get to it, no matterwhat.”

The herd will graze for at least 12hours a day, Delozier said.

“Once they get full, they’ll lay downtogether and chew their cud, then they’llget back up and go back to it,” Deloziersaid.

Delozier leaves the herd on site formultiple days, depending on the size ofthe property and vegetation density. Aportable electrified fence surrounds theproperty where the herd grazes, keep-ing the goats in and the coyotes out.

In just a few days, the overgrownpatch behind Davidson’s home will looklike wintertime, Delozier said.

Go green“They’ll munch anything green and

leafy. … There won’t be anything greenup to 6 feet tall,” Delozier said as hisgoats darted around him as he stood inthe middle of the drained pond.

Right now is the best time to get thegoats, as many of the invasive speciesare going to seed.

“(The goats) actually sterilize theseeds when they pass through their sys-tems,” Delozier said.

Davidson sees the goat service as awin-win. The goats get to eat their favor-ite treats, and he doesn’t have to wrestlefor days on end trying to clear out impos-sibly thick vegetation.

“We’re able to bring the goats in andclear out terrain that is really hard tomanage, and we can do it in an ecologicaland sustainable way instead of just put-ting poisons on it and hurting our land.We can take care of it and nurture it inthe right manner,” Delozier said, pattingone of the goats on the head. “And theyare cute and it’s fun.”

To learn more about The Goat Guys,visit thegoatguys.com.

Reach reporter Nancy De Gennaro at615-278-5148 or degennaro@dnj.com, andfollow her on Twitter @NanDeGennaro.

GoatsContinued from Page 1A

NANCY DEGENNARO/DNJ

Homeowner Bob Davidson, left, of Murfreesboro watches as the herd owned by The Goat Guysis let loose by Josh Delozier.