Friday, April 22, 2016

 This message is sent on behalf of Jean E. Robillard, MD, Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean, UI Carver College of Medicine; and Kenneth P. Kates, Associate Vice President, UI Health Care, and Chief Executive Officer, UI Hospitals and Clinics.

One of the hallmarks of successful health care organizations is the ability to adapt to a changing landscape. Within academic medical centers, this shifting regulatory, reimbursement and consumer landscape has driven a movement toward reorganization within a centralized department model. This centralization model has been used successfully to maximize access, productivity, and clinical outcomes in the surgical arena at many institutions, and has been in place for UI Cardiothoracic Surgery for the past eight months. 

Based on this successful transition, the following reorganization has been implemented:

Cardiothoracic Surgery is now a Division of the Department of Surgery under the leadership of Ronald J. Weigel, MD, PhD, Associate Vice President, UI Health Alliance, EA Crowell Jr. Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery

Kal Parekh, MBBS, Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and the UI Lung Transplant Program, and Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery has been named the director of the new Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. 

These Department of Surgery changes support the institutional pursuit of an integrated model of care, a key factor in our success. UI Health Care’s success continues to be made possible due to its people and their commitment to ensuring excellence and innovation in our patient care, education, and research missions.

Thank you for your continued support of UI Health Care.