Categories of Membership in the CORE System

The CORE System shall include five categories of membership - Central, Participating, Associate, Affiliate, and Ancillary.  Each membership category has specific requirements and privileges established by the Board. Charter and system hospitals shall have special designations in addition to their category of membership.

Central Membership
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM), because of its central role in executing contracts with individual hospitals and in providing the largest single financial and in-kind contribution to the support of the CORE System, is recognized as the Central Member. OU-COM serves as the College of Osteopathic Medicine member, along with other hospital partners, needed to comprise an Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution (OPTI).  OU-COM shall establish a CORE office at or near each Participating Hospital to provide student support services.   The CORE office staff will schedule students for rotations at all CORE member hospitals and within hospital systems.

Participating Membership
Hospitals with AOA-approved Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs and participate as full members in the CORE System, shall be recognized as Participating Members.  Osteopathic medical students will be based only at Participating Member hospitals.  The addition of new Participating Members and the methods of their incorporation will be defined by all existing Participating Members in conjunction with the Central Member.  Recommendations must be submitted to the CORE Finance Committee (CFC) for consideration.  Approval will require a super-majority or two-thirds vote of the Board.  Conditions and payments for becoming a Participating Member shall be established by the CFC and ratified by the Board in accordance with the approved fiscal year (July 1- June 30) CORE System budget.

Associate Membership
Hospitals and Clinics with or without AOA and/or ACGME-approved Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs that do not become full Participating Members in the CORE System shall be recognized as Associate Members.  Osteopathic medical students will not be based at Associate Member hospitals.  The addition of new Associate Members and the methods of their incorporation will be defined by all existing Participating Members in conjunction with the Central Member. Recommendations must be submitted to the CFC for consideration. Approval will require a super majority or two-thirds vote of the Board. Conditions and payments for becoming an Associate Member shall be established by the CFC and ratified by the Board in accordance with the approved fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) CORE System budget.

Affiliate Membership
Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) other than OU-COM that participate in the CORE System shall be recognized as Affiliate Members.  The addition of new Affiliate Members and the method of incorporation will be defined by the CORE Academic Steering Committee (CASC).  Recommendations must be submitted to the CFC for consideration. Approval will require super-majority or two-thirds vote of the CORE Board.    COM Affiliate Members must belong to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM).  Additional conditions and requirements for becoming a COM Affiliate Member shall be established by the Board.

Ancillary Membership
Hospitals or clinics that do not meet the requirements to be an Associate Member, non-osteopathic colleges or other universities that participate in the CORE System shall be recognized as Ancillary Members. Recommendations must be submitted to the CFC for consideration.  Conditions as well as the required initial and annual payments for becoming an Ancillary Member shall be established by the Board on an individual basis.

Special Designations

Charter Hospital
Those hospitals that initially participated in organizing the statewide osteopathic medical education consortium, provided a direct financial contribution to establish the CORE System, and formally became a CORE member within two months of its establishment in 1995, shall be designated as a Charter Hospital.  The original eleven (11) Charter Hospitals, of which nine (9) remain in the CORE System.  Any Charter Hospitals undergoing mergers or acquisitions that intend to retain Charter status must send a letter of intent to the Chairperson of the Board and specify if there has been a change in the name of the hospital. 

System Hospital
Those Participating and Associate Members that belong to the same healthcare system (e.g., OhioHealth, SUMMA Health System, Humility of Mary Health Partners, Cleveland Clinic Health System, etc.) and want to support osteopathic medical education shall be designated as system hospitals.  A system of hospitals must be comprised of at least one Participating Member and either additional Participating Member(s) and/or Associate Member(s).

Provisional Hospital
All newly accepted hospitals shall be given a provisional membership designation for a minimum of one (1) year which could remain in effect for up to five (5) years. The CORE Board or Executive Committee of the CORE Bard determines if a new hospital is given provisional membership status. This designation allows full participation in the CORE System while the institution demonstrates quality academic programming for osteopathic medical education. A hospital’s provisional membership status will be reviewed annually by the CORE Academic Steering Committee (CASC) to determine progress towards meeting quality measures. The CASC will approve removal of the provisional membership designation with ratification by the CORE Board.