Rising reputation
Skylie and Heather Voss with surgeon Cynthia Herrington, M.D.
In the first years following the merger, the Medical School went through some tough times as a number of faculty members left for other institutions. But today, recognizing and appreciating the strengths of the partnership, top scholars are joining the team, and the reputation of the hospital and the Medical School are on the rise. Last year the Department of Pediatrics alone welcomed 13 new faculty members, including specialists in diabetes, emergency medicine, infectious disease, and blood cancers.
Cerra notes that the U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospitals 2006" edition lists the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, among the top 50 U.S. medical centers in 11 areas: kidney disease; respiratory disorders; endocrinology; gynecology; orthopaedics; neurology and neuro-surgery; cancer; ear, nose, and throat; heart and heart surgery; urology; and digestive disorders.
"That's a real sign of success," he says.
Medical student Chris Vu
Top faculty attract superior students, says Thompson. And since most Minnesota health-care professionals are trained at the University, that's good for all of us. “Those students are Minnesota's future clinicians and care providers.”
Pattern for partnership
Despite its bumpy beginnings, the University-Fairview merger is seen today as a model for other academic health centers. In a 2000 report, the Association of Academic Health Centers and University HealthSystem Consortium cited the University-Fairview merger as a national model for academic-community partnerships.
"It truly is regarded as one of the big successes in bringing academic and community-based capabilities together," Fox says.
Neurosurgeon Stephen Haines, M.D., and radiation physicist Yoichi Watanabe, Ph.D., with the Gamma Knife
The merger also has provided a pattern for other partnerships within the system. In May 2005, Fairview broke ground for a new ambulatory care clinic in Maple Grove—a collaboration with University of Minnesota Physicians that will bring the expertise of University doctors to the community.
"[This] is a great example of how Fairview and University of Minnesota Physicians intend to work together in the marketplace," Fox says.
Thompson anticipates more such agreements in the future. "Our academic mission acknowledges the growing need for us to have a larger presence in the community," he says.
Eye to the future
Perhaps more than anything else, the partnership has set the stage for exciting advances in the years ahead.
When the merger occurred, hospital functions were split between the University and Riverside campuses. With the dust finally settling after a decade, partners are now standing back to take a big-picture look at configurations for the next 20 years. A Clinical Sciences Campus Plan developed in 2004 calls for creating a new specialty medical center, consolidating clinical laboratories, and offering a more inviting, user-friendly setting for patients and their families.
Plans are also under way to construct a state-of-the-art replacement facility for University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, with groundbreaking scheduled to take place this year.
Thompson predicts that the link between discovery and its application will grow even stronger in the years to come. "I foresee major growth in the clinical presence on this campus as the Medical School becomes more focused on being a translational research engine that transfers basic science and education to the bedside at earlier stages," he says.
"I'm very optimistic," concurs Cerra. "We're in exciting times."
Related links
University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview
University of Minnesota Physicians
University of Minnesota Academic Health Center