News from the President About University Hospital & the New Medical School in Camden
William F. Owen, Jr., MD
President, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
July 31, 2009—In the interest of keeping you informed of University news, I am writing to provide an update on several important and related issues.
First is an update on the Governor's announcement last month regarding plans to develop a four-year, allopathic medical school in Camden as part of Rowan University. The Governor's Reorganization Plan calls for UMDNJ to transfer specific "functions and resources" now used by Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden to Rowan University. In partnership with Cooper Hospital, these resources have been used to successfully train some third- and fourth-year medical students. We agree with the justification outlined for why Rowan will work to develop a second medical school in southern New Jersey. I want to reiterate that an agreement to fairly value, compensate, and protect our current and future assets in Camden was strongly endorsed in the Governor's Reorganization Plan. Our students, faculty, staff and patients' needs, as well as the public's trust, are ensured by verbal and written commitments.
Our longstanding, wide-ranging commitment to Camden's citizens and the surrounding communities will continue to be met. Many of you may not realize the wide scope and breadth of services UMDNJ provides to South Jersey. Not only does the School of Osteopathic Medicine have a major stake in Camden County, but also our School of Nursing, School of Public Health, School of Health Related Professions, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and New Jersey Dental School provide many clinical and educational services. Indeed, our involvement in Camden County's healthcare system will expand as we meet our ongoing obligations and share our substantial experience and academic prestige to help pave the way for the future new medical school.
I also want to share terrific news about the improved "health" of UMDNJ and The University Hospital (UH). At the time of the announcement of his plan for the new allopathic medical school, the Governor repeated his recognition of the "need to ensure continued resources and support for [UMDNJ's] existing medical schools and University Hospital in Newark." I am pleased to share that in these challenging financial times, UMDNJ received additional state support. Our appropriations from the State were substantially increased in the State's 2010 budget. This generous increase will allow us to narrow the longstanding gap between the costs to meet our unique missions and the amount we are reimbursed for those services. All this means that we have not had to curtail the education and training programs our students expect, nor the services we provide to the many residents of NJ as a statewide educational and healthcare asset. Thanks to your hard work and resourcefulness, the tremendous support of the Governor and his team, elected officials across NJ and especially the Essex County delegation, and many other great supporters, UMDNJ is in a much stronger position today. I am optimistic about our financial future.
I am also pleased to share that The University Hospital achieved its expected break-even financial performance this year. This accomplishment was achieved by you, while improving the quality of patient care. For example, the length of stay for patients in a hospital is an easy way to measure quality of care. At UH, the length of stay for our patients decreased from 6.5 days to 5.2 days. Exciting quality improvement initiatives were begun, like the OpTime operating room information management system, providing tools for all key perioperative processes, and the rollout of a new phase of an electronic medical record system.
Our accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. For the first time, the University Hospital was listed as a "Top Hospital" by US News & World Report. Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, also a major clinical, teaching and research site for UMDNJ, was listed as a "Top Hospital" for the 3rd year in a row. Only 174 of 4,861 hospitals achieved the "Top Hospital" recognition. Acknowledgement and external recognition of high performance by talented individuals as well as entire services abound at UMDNJ. For example, at UH we have just received a Silver Performance Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Even our great Dietary Department at UH got into the act by receiving the Silver Plate award from the International Foodservice Manufacturing Association for the foodservice to our patients.
I want to commend all of you for your many varied contributions. We are increasingly in a good place that more truly reflects our bright future. Thank you for your passion, commitment and hard work.
All the best,
William F. Owen, Jr., MD
President
William F. Owen, Jr., M.D.
President
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