Dear Friend of the UT System,
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Dr. Kenneth Shine |
There is great news on the horizon in the fight against cancer and for Texans in particular. Voters earlier this month overwhelmingly approved a $3 billion bond proposal that will fund cancer research in Texas — a measure which no doubt will further solidify our state's role as a global leader in cancer research and treatment.
Put another way, Texas will infuse $300 million to state universities and research centers each year over the next decade, effectively doubling government-sponsored cancer research dollars in the state — and accelerating our pace to find a cure for the deadly disease.
Of course, finding a cure requires more than just money. There must be collaboration. Which brings me to my next topic.
"Successful teams require outstanding leadership — something UT health institutions have benefited from for many years."
In the 21st century, healthcare and health research are both team sports. Successful teams require outstanding leadership — something UT health institutions have benefited from for many years. Three of our health campuses have or shortly will be undergoing leadership changes. The presidents of these fine institutions leave us with exceptional templates for future success. With these examples, we have good reason to be optimistic that their replacements will continue to build on the strong guidance each of them provided to our health institutions.
Jack Stobo presided for 10 years over the growth of the UT Medical Branch - Galveston campus, with an increase in extramural research funding of over 50 percent in the past five years. He was an innovator of health education with a number of programs which included students from several of the health disciplines that make up the healthcare team. A member of the Institute of Medicine and a nationally recognized rheumatologist who was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Stobo resumes his academic responsibilities and also will serve as the executive director of academic affairs for the Office of Health Affairs.
Jim Willerson led the UT Health Science Center - Houston campus to new heights in fundraising, which provided much-needed boosts for the Institute for Molecular Medicine, a new nursing school and several other important new research buildings. During his tenure as president, research expenditures at the institution rose 45 percent, prominent scientists and researchers were recruited to join the faculty, and the overall quality and caliber of matriculating medical students increased. A world-famous cardiologist and member of the Institute of Medicine, he received a number of national and international distinctions and will assume the presidency of the Texas Heart Institute when his successor is named. He teamed up with UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for new projects, including the GE imaging facility on the South Research Campus.
The dean of UT health institution presidents, Kern Wildenthal, also announced that he would step down after 22 years in that office. He assumed the presidency when UT Southwestern Medical Center - Dallas was a respected but still fledging institution. His vision for campus expansion led to millions of square feet of additional research space and capital campaigns which increased the endowment for the campus from $19 million to $796 million. Particularly important has been Kern's remarkable ability to recruit and retain an extraordinary faculty, which includes four Nobel laureates, 17 members of the National Academy of Sciences and 18 members of the Institute of Medicine (of which, Kern, himself, is a member). Kern is considering a number of challenges when he steps down as president and will, like Jim Willerson, also remain on the UT faculty.
We are blessed with the continuing leadership of Francisco Cigarroa at UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, John Mendelsohn at UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Kirk Calhoun at UT Health Center - Tyler. We are also fortunate that David Callender assumed the presidency of UTMB in September and is already providing outstanding leadership for that campus.
These developments emphasize the importance of leadership at our institutions. These leaders combined vision with a willingness to work with other health and academic campuses to enrich our research, educational and patient care activities. They found ways to motivate the rest of their teams and made hard decisions when necessary. This was true even when some of these decisions were unpopular, but in the best interest of the institution. All of them worked closely with the communities in which their institutions are located.
"Communication skills become a critical requirement of successful leadership and, in its absence, even the best technical knowledge may not bear full potential."
There are other advantages to fine leadership skills, which arguably carry greater weight today than ever before. Healthcare has moved increasingly from the authoritarian patriarchal practice of the first three quarters of the 20th century to professional activities in which persons of diverse backgrounds must be strongly represented. This requires leadership which educates, encourages, energizes and guides the rest of the team — precisely the kind that we benefited from with Stobo, Willerson and Wildenthal.
Communication skills become a critical requirement of successful leadership and, in its absence, even the best technical knowledge may not bear full potential. Recognizing that errors still occur in the operating room, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals now requires a checklist, which includes all of the members of the team, in making sure that the right surgery is done on the right patient in the right way.
The late health economist, Eli Ginzburg, pointed out that, in 1927, there were only three times as many health professionals as there were physicians. Today, there are more than 13 health professionals per physician. Even the solo practitioner today must depend upon a team that includes nurses, administrative and/or secretarial help, pharmacists and equally important, the patient and the patient's family. The size of the team escalates dramatically when one considers care in the emergency room, the operating room or the clinic. Effective care of diabetes, heart disease and many other conditions include nutritionists, physician assistants and many others on the team.
We are now calling upon the teachers of our health professionals to help our students learn leadership skills to measure processes and outcomes of care, and to learn how to continuously improve these outcomes with the help of other members of the team.
We thank our outgoing presidents for their support and contributions, and look forward to working with their successors and our current presidents to provide the leadership essential to great institutions.
One final note: in this issue of The Pulse, please take notice of two important features; one on the latest developments in our Code Red report, for which experts gathered just last month to begin outlining potential solutions to the daunting challenges of addressing indigent patient care in Texas; and the other on UT M. D. Anderson's first-of-its-kind inflammatory breast cancer clinic, which just recently announced $4 million in funding from the Legislature to help address this rare, but highly lethal, form of cancer. We believe you'll find both articles interesting.
Best,
Kenneth I. Shine, M.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
The University of Texas System
