As the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix expands rapidly, it is faced with a complex challenge of future leadership that has plagued it for decades since the inception of public medical schools in Arizona.
The College of Medicine Phoenix stands as the crown jewel of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus which stretches between Fourth and Seventh streets from the vacant lots at Garfield Street down to Arizona State University’s Mercado at Monroe Street. The school provides an economic impact of $961 million of the estimated $1.26 billion for the entire Phoenix Biomedical Campus in 2013. That translates into directly and indirectly supporting 7,185 of the over 9,400 jobs from the entire campus and specifically downtown Phoenix, according to consulting firm Tripp Umbach’s 2014 economic impact study “Economic and Social Contribution of the University of Arizona.”
However, the Arizona Medical Association has voted no confidence in the leadership of the medical school, prompting two meetings — and recently an independent investigation by the Arizona Board of Regents, which is responsible for the governance of state public universities — just in August. But the issue is far more deep-rooted than that, as the issue of a medical school has divided Tucson and Phoenix for almost 60 years, manifesting itself in leadership struggles today.
A long time coming
Since the idea of a medical school in Arizona was proposed in 1958, leadership in Tucson and Phoenix have competed for the nexuses of medical education. Tucson won out early when a report backed unanimously by experts from both cities supported the opening of the College of Medicine in Tucson in 1967.
While a small branch was formed in Phoenix in 1992, the real action began in 2003 when all three public universities proposed the idea of an Arizona Biomedical Collaborative in downtown Phoenix. However, there was some debate as then UA President Peter Likins suggested that the medical school be a branch of the Tucson College of Medicine.
A partnership, which would later falter in the Great Recession, was favored by the Arizona Board of Regents and the state Legislature and would see the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix open its doors in partnership with ASU in 2007. The next year, the first dean of the school, Edward Shortliffe, left when Tucson Dean Keith Joiner told Shortliffe he would be a vice dean and report to him following a model of “one medical school in two locations.”
Which brings us to today
After Shortliffe left, Dean Stuart Flynn would guide the school until this April, when he announced his resignation, and most of the senior leadership at the Phoenix medical school left shortly after, including former Vice Dean of Academic Affairs Jacqueline Chadwick; former Deputy Dean of Administration, Finance, and Operations Matthew Lester; former Vice President of University Relations and Development Judy Bernas; and former Associate Dean for Research Joan Shapiro.
But this is all the more unnerving given that the Phoenix medical school is potentially only a year away from full accreditation, which is the holy grail for new medical schools. Accreditation means that the economic impact and new jobs are secured by the promise that the education provided to new medical students is recognized.
Just before Flynn left in April there were major questions about the ability of the Phoenix medical school to lead. In the affiliation agreement with Banner Health, spearheaded by Senior Vice President Joe Garcia, that helped save the entire UAHS enterprise from years of debt, the Phoenix medical school was accidentally excluded from an Academic Management Council overseeing the enterprise.
This prompted the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which determines whether doctor of medicine programs are accredited, to issue a warning in 2015 that the leadership of the Phoenix medical school may prevent full accreditation.
So what comes next?
There are some great things going on at the Phoenix medical school that are going unrecognized. The new interim Dean Kenneth Ramos has said that he has full confidence in the school’s path to full accreditation. Several local leaders even spoke highly of the new leadership and its outreach efforts to diverse communities including Warren Stewart, the pastor of First Institutional Baptist Church; David Adame, the president of Chicanos Por La Causa; and Enrique Ochoa, the executive director of the Arizona Fair Housing Center.
“That the school is in an unique position where we can pivot, and that pivot can be great, it can be OK,” Omar Hussain, the vice chair of the medical student government, said at the Board of Regents hearing held at the Phoenix medical school. “I definitely don’t think that the pivot will turn us in the wrong direction.”
Hussain said that though he and many of the other 320 students felt the blows of many of their leaders leaving, he takes heart in the staff that remains and continues to do a great job.
Yet sadly, despite these major advances and deep questions about the autonomy of the Phoenix medical school, we are stuck with meetings and headlines focusing on the mostly settled issue of accreditation and travel expenses incurred by Garcia.
If we want to truly show that Phoenix is ready for the thriving medical enterprise we have been gifted, then we should take on these deeper questions and ensure that our medical school thrives no matter the situation in Tucson.
Contact the columnist at raboyd2@asu.edu.
