Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Health System announce new faculty practice plan
October 14, 2005
Contact: Paula J. Baughn (216) 368-4440 or paula.baughn@case.edu
or Rob Whitehouse (216) 844-3825 or Rob.Whitehouse@uhhs.com
University Hospitals of Cleveland
Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Health System (UHHS)
are pleased to announce a new unified faculty practice plan between the Case
School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC). The new medical
group, based at UHC, is the centerpiece of a new affiliation agreement that
was unanimously approved today by the boards of Case, UHHS and UHC.
The UHC medical group will bring all practice groups under one unified practice plan, thereby improving operational efficiency. Under the previous model, the approximately 20 practice groups—representing different medical and surgical specialties—operated independently of each other. All faculty members at the Case School of Medicine with clinical activities who are based at UHC will be included in the new UHC medical group. The unified faculty practice plan is also intended to support these faculty members to strengthen their commitment to research and educational programs.
"The unified faculty practice plan is an evolution of the collaborative relationship that has existed between the Case School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland for more than a century. Essentially, we have created a business model to better manage the changing economic realities in healthcare today while still remaining true to our shared commitment to medical research and education," said Fred C. Rothstein, M.D., president and chief executive officer at University Hospitals of Cleveland.
Ralph I. Horwitz, M.D., dean at the Case School of Medicine, added, "Creating the practice plan ensures that the medical school will be able to support the faculty based at UHC even as we continue to work collaboratively with other Case affiliates. We fully expect that this agreement will be of benefit to the city of Cleveland, the patients who seek care at UHC, and the academic programs that are the symbol of the hospital's aspirations for leadership in American medicine."
The new affiliation replaces the agreements of 2002 by the two institutions. It creates a new multi-affiliate medical school model. The Wolstein Research Building will continue as the flagship collaboration between both Case and UHC, with each institution continuing to invest in translational, disease-oriented research.
This multi-affiliate model creates opportunities for greater flexibility and collaboration that can benefit institutions, the city of Cleveland and the advancement of medicine. Such successes as BioEnterprise, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and the National Center for Regenerative Medicine, all of which involve the participation of the major health care institutions affiliated with Case, exemplify the benefits of increased collaboration.
"This affiliation is our mutual recognition of one another's core strengths: University Hospitals Health System and University Hospitals of Cleveland as a leading health care center in clinical practice and Case as a foremost research and educational institution," said Case President Edward M. Hundert, M.D. "This plan provides both partners with even greater opportunities to enhance collaborations while maintaining a joint commitment to our respective medical missions."
Under the agreement, Case will have primary responsibility for all educational and research programs at the Case/UHC campus. All research grants carried out by the faculty in UHC-based clinical departments, except industry-sponsored clinical trials, will flow through and be directly administered by the Case School of Medicine, with Case serving as the grantee.
UHHS and UHC will have primary responsibility for clinical programs, including hospital operations, faculty practice operations and the clinical practice budgets of each clinical department. Case School of Medicine will have principal responsibility for all academic activities.
Case and UHC will jointly appoint and oversee the chairs of each clinical department, including sharing in the cost of recruitment and salary. In addition, Case will manage all research and educational activities in collaboration with UHC, while UHC will manage all clinical activities in collaboration with the Case School of Medicine, the clinical chairs and the faculty.
"This agreement enables University Hospitals Health System to build a more competitive practice of faculty based at University Hospitals of Cleveland, to continue to provide state-of-the-art medical care to patients and to solidify our place as one of the leading health care systems in the country," said Thomas F. Zenty III, president and CEO of University Hospitals Health System.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
About University Hospitals Health System
Committed to advanced care and advanced caring, University Hospitals Health System offers the region's largest network of primary care physicians, along with outpatient centers and hospitals. The System also includes a network of specialty care physicians, skilled nursing, elder health, rehabilitation and home care services, managed care and insurance programs. For more information, go to http://www.uhhs.com.
About University Hospitals of Cleveland
University Hospitals of Cleveland enjoys some of the most prestigious centers of excellence in the country and the world. Not only those most familiar to the public—cancer, pediatrics and women's health—but also areas such as orthopedics and spine, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery and organ transplantation, radiology and radiation oncology, urology and digestive disorders, otolaryngology and respiratory disorders, ophthalmology and dermatology, rheumatology and geriatrics, and family medicine and human genetics. An affiliate of Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals of Cleveland and its academic counterpart form the largest biomedical research center in the state of Ohio. University Hospitals of Cleveland is the tertiary hub of University Hospitals Health System, which serves patients at more than 150 locations in northern Ohio.
About the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Founded in 1843, the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and 13th largest among the nation's medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Eleven Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school.
The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. In 2002, it became only the third medical school in history to receive the best review possible from the national body responsible for accrediting the nation's medical schools. It ranks in the top 20 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools in the U.S. News and World Report guide to graduate education. Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 600 M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students. The medical school's curriculum interweaves four themes -- research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism—to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century.
Case is affiliated with University Hospitals of Cleveland, MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, with which it opened the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2004. http://casemed.case.edu
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