November 2, 2006
President Emmert announces reorganization of UW Medicine leadership
UW President Mark Emmert has announced a reorganization of UW Medicine, which includes the UW School of Medicine, UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Physicians, and the UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics. The reorganization is intended to strengthen the UW Medicine organizational infrastructure with enhanced operational support and financial oversight for the health care system. The changes will improve support for clinical operations and increase effectiveness in sustaining the strong and vital teaching, research, and patient care programs.
Effective Nov. 1, Paul Ramsey’s position, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, was changed to chief executive officer (CEO), UW Medicine, and executive vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UW School of Medicine. Ramsey will be accountable to President Emmert in his duties as CEO of UW Medicine and executive vice president for medical affairs, and to UW Provost Phyllis Wise in his duties as dean of the UW School of Medicine.
To strengthen the operational capacity of UW Medicine, the University will establish two new vice president-level positions that will report to Ramsey as CEO of UW Medicine. One position will be a clinical operations officer (COO) and vice president for medical affairs; the other will be a chief financial officer (CFO) and vice president for medical affairs. The COO of UW Medicine will provide leadership for clinical operations at UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center. The executive directors of both medical centers will report to the UW Medicine COO, who will be responsible for major shared services, including information systems and patient financial services. The UW Medicine CFO will provide leadership for financial planning, reporting, and internal controls for UW Medicine.
Bruce Ferguson will continue to serve as the CFO for UW Medicine with the revised title and some revisions in his responsibilities as described above. The UW Medicine COO position will be filled through a national search. Ramsey will appoint a search committee and engage consultants to assist in the search. John Coulter, who currently performs some of the functions of the new COO position in his role as associate vice president for medical affairs, has announced that he will retire in July 2007. In addition to his role as associate vice president, Coulter serves as executive director of health sciences. When he retires, the executive director of health sciences position will become a full-time position and will continue reporting to the office of President Emmert.
