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1st appeared 12 August 1999 Debas Discusses UCSF Stanford Reassessment and Management at Emergency Meeting Haile Debas, dean of the School of Medicine and vice-chancellor for medical affairs, held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss with the campus the events of the last few weeks, particularly the resignations of two top executives at UCSF Stanford Health Care. "These have been harrowing times for me," said Debas, who returned from Oxford, England, where he is on sabbatical, to host the meeting. He said the UCSF Stanford troubles have "consumed most of my intellectual energy" and much of his time while on sabbatical. "I do promise you I will not walk out on the merger issues, and as you know, I have been fully engaged in the merger discussions," he told an audience of more than 300 faculty and staff at Cole Hall. Debas discussed what is likely to happen between now and October 1, the deadline set by the presidents of UC and Stanford for reassessment of UCSF Stanford Health Care. Debas outlined three possible plans: dissolving the merger altogether; restructuring the merger in a way that UCSF hospitals are returned to public institution status but preserving some central services, such as purchasing; or continuing to operate UCSF Stanford in its present form. Debas has indicated that he favors restructuring UCSF Stanford. Also discussed at the meeting were the resignations of CEO Peter Van Etten and COO Bill Kerr from UCSF Stanford. Debas said Kerr will stay at UCSF on an interim basis and report to David Hunter of the Florida-based consulting firm, the Hunter Group. Hunter will serve as interim CEO, reporting to the UCSF Stanford board. "The Hunter Group is not planning to do anything major. I don't expect them to take any new initiatives," other than implementing the financial recovery plan, Debas said, adding that he and other faculty leaders will continue to meet weekly to discuss UCSF Stanford issues and that the faculty will be called upon for their expertise. Acknowledging the faculty's concerns about the Hunter Group, Debas said, "No matter what you think of them, there are very obvious reasons to think they're being successful …they're also the most effective group in solving deficit problems." He pointed to recent Hunter Group efforts to turn around ailing hospitals including California Pacific Medical Center, UC San Diego, University of Pennsylvania and University of Illinois. The Hunter Group has already had some successes at UCSF Stanford, Debas said. They have established reasonable financial reporting systems, which had been lagging over the past two years; reduced the time that financial books are closed from three months to 17 days; and has cut in half the monthly deficit as of June. Debas encouraged the faculty and staff to sustain collegiality with the Hunter Group while they are at UCSF and asked faculty to return their energies to "our core missions of patient care and public service." He also addressed the issue of Mount Zion at the meeting, suggesting the possibility of a women's and children's hospital on the site. Debas also said there has to be state support, from the legislature or elsewhere, to keep Mount Zion functioning as an acute care hospital. "Numerous people are spending numerous hours to try and accomplish that," he said. Debas will present a proposal for Mount Zion to the UCSF Stanford board on August 27. Links: Support Voiced for Restructuring UCSF Stanford UCSF and Stanford to Reassess the Merger Daybreak's UCSF Stanford archives Source: Paula Murphy and Lisa Cisneros | ||
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