蜜柚直播

During the public comment period of a four-hour 蜜柚直播 Board of Regents Health Affairs Committee meeting, 14 people lauded Dr. Joe G.N. 鈥淪kip鈥� Garcia for his leadership, among them Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Francisco Garcia and Pima County Supervisor Richard El铆as.

Garcia, who earns $870,00 per year, has come under scrutiny for his leadership, and for his travel expenses. Public attention on him began after six key leaders at the UA College of Medicine Phoenix left earlier this year, including its dean, Dr. Stuart Flynn.

The 蜜柚直播 regents meeting and another one held in Phoenix Aug. 5 were convened after the 蜜柚直播 Medical Association took a vote of 鈥渘o confidence鈥� in the UA鈥檚 health sciences leadership. The association asked the regents to conduct an independent investigation.

It鈥檚 unclear how the 蜜柚直播 Board of Regents, which is the governing body of the state鈥檚 public university system, will proceed after the 蜜柚直播 hearing. Board of Regents President Eileen Klein opened the meeting by saying that in recent days there have been questions about use of public money by UA health sciences and that action outside of the special meeting may be needed.

鈥沦耻辫别谤蝉迟补谤鈥�

Garcia鈥檚 long line of supporters, some of them UA Health Science employees, called him 鈥渢ransformational鈥� and a 鈥渟uperstar.鈥� Some said that over the next decade he could help make Banner-University Medical Center 蜜柚直播 one of the best hospitals in the nation.

UA cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Zain Khalpey told the regents that in 2013 his department was disintegrating and he was ready to leave. But Garcia put words into action, he said, and the UA Health Network鈥檚 merger with Phoenix-based Banner Health, which occurred last year under Garcia鈥檚 watch, has been a stabilizing force. Banner was the surviving entity in that merger.

鈥淚 want to stay here and grow,鈥� he said.

The 蜜柚直播 Medical Association鈥檚 House of Delegates in June took a vote of 鈥渘o confidence鈥� in the governance of the UA鈥檚 two medical schools, which ultimately falls under the leadership of Garcia and UA President Ann Weaver Hart.

Garcia, who reports directly to Hart, oversees all of the UA鈥檚 health colleges 鈥� the UA College of Medicine-蜜柚直播, the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, the UA College of Pharmacy, the UA College of Nursing, and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

The 蜜柚直播 Medical Association also wants the 蜜柚直播 Board of Regents to oversee an independent investigation into 鈥渁ny U of A organizational impediments or policies that contributed to the departures of the well-respected and quality team that was in place.鈥�

Garcia, who earns a salary of $870,000, last week was the subject of an that focused on his travel expenses, including a chauffeured car that costs $475 or more for trips between 蜜柚直播 and Phoenix.

Many of Garcia鈥檚 supporters spoke against the news article, though they did not question its accuracy. They said it was harmful to the pathway to success that Garcia began when he came to the UA in 2013. They say that Garcia, buoyed by the Banner merger and a Banner academic affiliation with the UA, is helping to take the UA and its hospitals to world-class excellence.

Several applauded when Regent Rick Myers said that focusing on Garcia鈥檚 travel costs is 鈥渋rrelevant,鈥� given all the positive things happening within UA Health Sciences.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if we are not telling the story right or if the media is not listening,鈥� Myers said.

NIH grant

Regent Ron Shoopman said that when massive change occurs in an institution, people either get on board with it and move with the change, or they judge.

Shoopman and others spoke of a need for better communication about UA Health Sciences successes, among them a recently announced $43.3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) award over five years that鈥檚 part of the Precision Medicine Initiative that President Obama introduced in his 2015 State of the Union address.

The White House describes the initiative as 鈥渁 bold new research effort to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease.鈥�

Other major grants were also awarded in the past year under Garcia鈥檚 leadership and are expected to boost the UA鈥檚 reputation as a research institution, he and others said.

In addition, both UA medical schools had a record number of applicants for the current academic year 鈥� 6,458 to the UA College of Medicine 蜜柚直播 and 5,358 to the UA College of Medicine Phoenix. The 蜜柚直播 medical school made 200 offers of admission, and the Phoenix school made 153.

The UA鈥檚 medical schools in 蜜柚直播 and Phoenix are not two branches of one school. Rather, they are separately accredited institutions and at the moment are the sole medical schools for training allopathic physicians in 蜜柚直播.

Though they are two separate schools, they are both under the same governance, led by Hart and Garcia.

And therein lies the rub for some critics who say that the Garcia-Hart combination has been too self-serving and not responsive to the needs of leaders at the Phoenix medical school.

Accreditation woes

Flynn, who had been in his job since 2008, recently left for a position in Texas. After he announced his departure, five other key leaders in the Phoenix medical school said they were leaving, too.

Four followed Flynn to Texas, where he鈥檒l be founding dean of a medical school jointly operated by Texas Christian University and the University of North Texas Health Science Center. One went to a bigger job at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Those departures occurred as the 9-year-old UA College of Medicine Phoenix is in the midst of trying to get full accreditation.

Last year, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education wrote a letter to the school saying changes would be needed in order to secure full accreditation.

The accrediting body expressed concern about the recent academic affiliation between Banner Health and the UA.

The Phoenix medical school has since been granted provisional accreditation this year, which puts it on pace for full accreditation in 2017, UA health science officials say.

It was the leadership void and its potential effect on the accreditation that led to the medical association鈥檚 鈥渘o-confidence鈥� action.

The 4,000-member, 120-year-old association鈥檚 action was unprecedented, executive vice president Chic Older said in an interview last week. In addition to the no-confidence vote, the association has asked the 蜜柚直播 Board of Regents to take 鈥渃orrective action,鈥� based on an investigation, 鈥渢o ensure long-term excellence in medical education at the U of A College of Medicine Phoenix and 蜜柚直播.鈥�

Hart said she鈥檒l be doing a 鈥渃limate survey鈥� of the work environment at the UA鈥檚 health colleges through a third party, and that she鈥檒l also have an outside investigator do exit interviews with all the Phoenix leaders who left.

But Older has said the association wants the investigation at the behest of the regents, not the UA.

鈥淗uge鈥� loss

The loss of Flynn was 鈥渉uge鈥� for the fledgling Phoenix medical school, which sits amid a growing biomedical campus in the city鈥檚 downtown core, said Cary Pfeffer, a Phoenix resident, author and owner of a consulting firm who sat on a community advisory board to the Phoenix medical school for several years.

Pfeffer said he joined the board because he wanted to have an active role in an important educational institution.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 go to the UA; I don鈥檛 have kids interested in becoming doctors. But the more I learned about the school, the more impressed I was. Especially knowing where we are with our need for doctors and medical professionals,鈥� Pfeffer said. 鈥淚t is an easy place to support.鈥�

The advisory board has not met since Flynn鈥檚 departure, he said.

鈥淚 think Stuart did a terrific job,鈥� Pfeffer said. 鈥淏ut he also assembled a great team to share his level of enthusiasm in all segments of the organization.

鈥淲hen you have strong, inspiring, selfless leaders, people generally want to stay with them. I don鈥檛 think President Hart or Dr. Garcia have provided that kind of leadership.鈥�

Garcia has said that the departure of several senior leaders is not unusual in academic medicine.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 happen when the top leadership is supportive and leads selflessly,鈥� countered Pfeffer. 鈥淚ndividual members on the Board of Regents have known about this for years, how these two do not lead.鈥�

Specifically, Pfeffer said, Garcia was not providing enough support to the senior leadership at the Phoenix medical school.

鈥淚t strikes me as an imperialistic sort of governance from afar,鈥� he said.

Some of the adversity about the College of Medicine Phoenix appears to be related to a longstanding 鈥淧hoenix versus 蜜柚直播鈥� mentality that isn鈥檛 helping anyone, Myers said.

Garcia said the schools have distinct missions and characteristics. It鈥檚 in the interest of the UA to have both medical schools succeed 鈥� never one over the other, he said.

New medical school

In one year, the UA will not be the only medical school in the state training allopathic (M.D.) physicians.

A third allopathic medical school will be opening a campus in 蜜柚直播. The Mayo Clinic, which is based in Minnesota, will open its medical school in Scottsdale in the summer of 2017 with a class of 50 students, spokesman Jim McVeigh said.

Two other private medical schools in 蜜柚直播 鈥� A.T. Still University in Mesa and Midwestern University in Glendale 鈥� both offer D.O. degrees in osteopathic medicine.

A key to alleviating a current and projected future doctor shortage is for communities to have medical schools and residency positions. That鈥檚 why medical schools are a premium for major cities.

In a ranking of best to worst rates, 蜜柚直播 ranks 36th in active primary physicians, the Association of American Medical Colleges says.

The state has 79.2 active primary care doctors per 100,000 people. The highest-ranked state, Massachusetts, has 131.9 active primary physicians per 100,000 people, the association鈥檚 most recent numbers show.