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1st appeared
29 October
1999 Stanford Starts Termination of Merger President Gerhard Casper announced Thursday that Stanford University has decided to end its participation in the merger of Stanford and UCSF medical centers. "With great anguish, I have concluded that, in our efforts to find bold solutions to the problems of academic medical centers, we have taken on too much," Casper said in a letter sent yesterday to University of California President Richard C. Atkinson." We have failed to achieve a new common UCSF Stanford Health Care culture that would provide the whole-hearted support needed. Instead, most faculty continue to identify almost exclusively with their home campus. As a result, UCSF Stanford Health Care has not succeeded in carrying out the purpose for which it was formed." UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop stated that he expects a cordial dissolution process and emphasized that operation of the UCSF Medical Center will continue seamlessly, with no interruption to patient care services. The financial recovery plan for clinical services at the campus will continue, including the transfer of all inpatient services from UCSF/Mount Zion to the UCSF Medical Center on Parnassus Avenue and the development of UCSF/Mount Zion as a comprehensive Cancer Center and outpatient services hub. The reconfiguration of clinical services at Parnassus and Mount Zion is necessary to preserve the financial stability and the quality of health care provided at UCSF with or without the merger. The Hunter Group will continue to manage the UCSF hospitals pending the development of a long-term plan, Bishop said. In remarks to the campus community on Wednesday, Bishop said, "With or without the merger, UC and Stanford hospitals face continuing financial pressures that can only be addressed by stringent management and improved revenues. I am confident that we will eventually prevail in this struggle. We have a resourceful staff and faculty, along with the strong backing of the Board of Regents; and we offer world class health care, a fine product for the market place." UCSF Stanford Health Care announced that it will be holding employee meetings at all its sites, and expects to have more information for staff early next week. Isaac Stein, chair of the UCSF Stanford Board of Directors, and Howard Leach, vice chair of the Board, stated yesterday: "For all of us at UCSF Stanford Health Care, whether as board members, physicians or staff, this is obviously a difficult moment. This merger is coming to an end, however, not because of the lack of hard work and perseverance of our employees, but rather because of the very different and complex structures and cultures each of our institutions brought to the new entity. In addition, we were subject to difficult external forces such as Medicare funding cuts and the changing health care market. "We will meet with representatives from both universities to develop a plan to separate our operations with as little disruption as possible to patients or the academic missions of the medical schools." Links: Stanford Announcement-Press Release Casper Letter to UC President Atkinson UCSF Stanford Health Care Daybreak Archive
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