Posted Sept. 1, 1998
 
MEDICAL FACULTY ASSEMBLY
 
Minutes for the meeting of August 4, 1998

 

Attendance by Officers and Members of the Executive Board:
 
President Harvey Kaslow present
President-Elect Loren Laine present
Secretary Robert Stellwagen absent
Treasurer Jerry Gates present
Past President Kathryn Challoner absent
Member-at-Large Peter Heseltine absent
Member-at-Large Roger Jelliffe absent
Member-at-Large Dennis O'Leary  present
 
Representation at the Meeting:
 
Anesthesiology Jim Daniel
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Frank Markland
Cardiothoracic Surgery Robbin Cohen
Cell and Neurobiology  
Children's Hospital Gary Lerner
Emergency Medicine  
Family Medicine  
Medicine  
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Joseph Landolph
Neurological Surgery  
Neurology  
Norris Medical Library Candice Benjes
Obstetrics and Gynecology  
Ophthalmology Ronald Green
Orthopedics Tom Hedman
Otolaryngology Dennis O'Leary
Pathology  
Pediatrics Laura Wachsman
Physiology and Biophysics Herb Meiselman
Preventive Medicine Wendy Mack
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Bruce Gross
Radiation Oncology  
Radiology  
Rancho Los Amigos Hospital  
Surgery Jeffrey Peters
Urology  
 
Also attending: Ronald Kaufman

  1. Call to Order

    2. The meeting was called to order by President Harvey Kaslow. The minutes of the July 7, 1998 were distributed. Dr. Kaslow mentioned he will obtain dates from the Dean regarding setting a date for the Faculty-at-Large meeting this fall.

     

  2. Report regarding re-engineering within the County Department of Health.

    3. Dr. Ronald Kaufman presented a lengthy report on re-engineering and its impact on the LAC+USC Medical Center. Main points of his presentation included:
     

    1. Re-engineering is to occur system wide and not just at LAC+USC Medical Center.
     

    2. The goal is to reduce costs by restructuring and becoming more efficient, and not by simply down sizing.
     

    3. A major force driving the re-engineering effort are the conditions of the "1115 Waiver" from the federal government which bailed out the County several years ago. The waiver requires that the County:
     

      A. Shift emphasis to out-patient care.

      B. Reduce by 1/3 the in-patient beds.

      C. Increase community-based primary care by 50%.

      D. Centralize unique specialties into centers of excellence.

      E. Develop public/private partnerships.

     

    Additionally, the County Administration views restructuring as an opportunity to better compete in the "market place" by providing quality services and being more efficient.
     

    4. The County estimates that re-engineering may save as much as $294 million per year. To achieve this estimate, all County hospitals would have to operate more efficiently than 75% of all hospitals in the U.S.
     

    5. To date, the design teams in the re-engineering effort have involved over 400 individuals with 40% of the members being physicians from LAC+USC Medical Center. Each committee has had one house staff officer as a member.
     

    6. Dr. Kaufman discussed the cost-saving targets for each of the county hospitals. LAC+USC Medical Center's target is a cost reduction of $124.5 million ($87.2 in facilities costs, $21.9 in clinical resource management, and $15.4 in purchasing).
     

  3. Report regarding the status of the proposed Medicine Governance Document.

    4. Dr. Kaslow reported that the Governance Document ("Final Draft 2, June 18, 1998"), along with a ballot, will be mailed to all faculty in late August or early September. Each faculty is to vote yea or nay regarding approval of the entire document. Dr. Kaslow also reported that the Dean has indicated he supports creation of a Joint Task Force regarding Governance and the Dean hopes the Task Force will make specific recommendations by March. The proposed Task Force will contain nearly equal representation from the Administration and the MFA.
     

  4. Report regarding the summer meetings of the Academic Senate Executive Board.

    5. Dr. Mircheff reported that the Academic Senate will hold its annual retreat on August 28. The Executive Board will make recommendations regarding the University grievance procedures for the Faculty Handbook (related to who can grieve). Dr. Mircheff also stated that the Executive Board will reconstitute the Faculty Remuneration Committee. This decision may be of considerable importance in light of the recent motion by the University in court to declare portions of the Faculty Handbook concerning economic security not enforceable as a contract. The initial court ruling supports the University's motion. Considerable discussion from the floor ensued regarding this judicial ruling and its potential impact on the academic freedom of tenured faculty.
     

  5. Report regarding department-specific listservers.

    6. Dr. Kaslow directed everyone's attention to the handout regarding the creation of list servers for the entire faculty and for each department. Department specific list servers could be used by the MFA representatives to communicate with the members of their departments. Dr. Kaslow requested feedback regarding the department codes to be used.
     

  6. Brief reports and updates:
      7. Accreditation issues:   The LCME site visit is set for November 17, 1999.
The Task Force on Governance has concluded its business, and it is expected that the Joint Task Force regarding Governance will continue this work.

There were no reports of substantive developments regarding the other Task Forces:

  • Review of Chairs (on hold) (Stellwagen, Colletti).
  • Tenure for Newly Recruited Faculty (Mircheff, Formenti).
  • Development of Junior Faculty (Mack, Laine).
    •      Standing Committees:                 7. Adjournment  

    Submitted by: Jerry D. Gates, Ph.D., Treasurer, edited by Harvey Kaslow