CEO Laret to Give State of Medical Center Addresses

Mark Laret

Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center, will give three addresses on the state of the medical center in the next few weeks. Open to the campus community, the addresses are scheduled as follows:
  • Tuesday, Oct. 31, at noon in Cole Hall, Parnassus campus;
  • Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 7:45 a.m. in Cole Hall, Parnassus campus; and
  • Thursday, Nov. 9, in Herbst Hall, Mount Zion campus.
"I hope that as many employees as possible will attend, and I will reserve plenty of time at each session to address your questions and comments," Laret said in an email message. The text of the address and the questions asked by members of the audience will be posted on the medical center website after the sessions. Celebrating its centennial anniversary, UCSF Medical Center has made significant strides in recent years. In July, UCSF Medical Center ranked No. 9 among "America's Best Hospitals," and UCSF Children's Hospital was recognized as one of the highest-quality pediatric facilities in California and No. 19 in the United States, according to US News & World Report. The medical center also continues to experience high-volume activity, and has greatly improved its financial performance. In its most recent fiscal year, UCSF Medical Center earned more than $75 million, and cash increased to $144 million at a time of record capital assets. The financial turnaround is credited to the entire medical center team, led by Laret and Chief Financial Officer Ken Jones. For his part, Jones was recognized in June for "breaking through traditional boundaries of finance in contributing to a significant transformation of his company" during the Bay Area CFO of the Year Awards ceremony. Jones received the Transformation Agent Award at the event co-sponsored by the San Francisco Business Times. The next big challenge for the medical center is planning a new hospital complex at Mission Bay. UC Regents in September approved preliminary planning for a new hospital complex for children, women and cancer patients at the UCSF Mission Bay campus. The Regents' action permits UCSF Medical Center to use $34 million in hospital reserves to complete all phases of preliminary planning for the hospital complex, including selection of an architectural firm. Plans call for the Mission Bay hospital complex to include a new, 183-bed UCSF Children's Hospital to replace inpatient services located at the existing children's hospital at Parnassus Heights, and a 36-bed women's service and a 70-bed cancer service to replace inpatient facilities at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion. This phase of development would include a total of 289 new inpatient beds, as well as associated outpatient facilities. The estimated cost of the complex is between $1 billion and $1.3 billion, excluding the associated construction costs for parking, faculty office buildings and translational research space. A new hospital complex will allow UCSF to expand its clinical presence in San Francisco and Northern California, allowing for program growth, improved patient care and greater opportunities for collaborative translational research at the cutting-edge, 43-acre life sciences campus. Related Links: CEO Addresses Challenges Facing UC Medical Centers Medical Center's Ken Jones Wins Bay Area CFO Award