Johns Hopkins Gazette: January 8, 1996


On Medicine:
Town Meeting Sheds Light On Hopkins Medicine


Mike Field
------------------
Staff Writer

     A standing-room-only crowd filled the hospital's Hurd Hall
on Jan. 3 to hear interim President Daniel Nathans, hospital
President James Block and medical school Dean Michael Johns offer
a progress report on the new Office of Johns Hopkins Medicine and
related developments. 

     The hourlong town meeting was the first such gathering of
senior administrators and faculty since the new office was
created in June of last year.

     "This report is overdue," said Nathans at the beginning of
his presentation, which employed an overhead projector to
illustrate the changed administrative structure now directing the
combined efforts of the hospital and School of Medicine. "It is
obvious from the turnout today there is an interest in this."

     Noting that "finance is at the heart of this
reorganization," Nathans spoke for 15 minutes about how the new
organization would be structured and would function. "This
restructuring has come about because of the need to align
financial incentives," he said. "What we see evolving is a common
budget that will include both the hospital and the academic units
of the School of Medicine."

     Although the general outlines of the new office--which
consists of a committee including both the medical school dean
and the president of the hospital and chaired by the president of
the university--were established in June, many of the specifics
of the function and nature of the new office have been hammered
out in a series of regular meetings that have occurred since
then.

     "At the last meeting, the board of Johns Hopkins University
accepted a set of principles that will give the office real
strength," Nathans said. He noted, for instance, a new position
of chief financial officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine to promote
integrated financial planning.

     Following Nathans to the podium, President Block spent
several minutes reviewing the changes occurring in the world of
health care and the need it has created for Hopkins to partner
with other hospitals and with independent physicians groups. Dean
Johns then spoke about the efforts under way to establish a
presence for Johns Hopkins Medicine in the Washington
metropolitan area and an ongoing review of the Hopkins faculty
practice organization.

     At the conclusion of the presentation all three answered
questions from the floor that ranged from concern about faculty
salaries and long-term benefits to the hospital's continuing
ability to care for the poor. 

     "Jim, Mike and I were pleased with this opportunity to keep
the faculty and senior staff apprised of the situation as it
develops," Nathans said at the conclusion of the meeting. "We
plan to hold similar meetings regularly to keep our colleagues
informed about the progress of Johns Hopkins Medicine."

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