Vol. 38, No. 18

1-31-2007
By: Emily Caldwell

Medical Center success not a surprise, CEO says

Sanfilippo updates staff and faculty during address

High expectations and teamwork have combined to keep Ohio State Medical Center on an upward trajectory toward its goals through solid financial management, improved faculty/staff and patient satisfaction, aggressive pursuit of research funding and high demand for educational opportunities, says CEO Fred Sanfilippo.

For Sanfilippo, also senior vice president and executive dean of health sciences, the Medical Center’s wide-ranging success isn’t necessarily a surprise since he predicted upon his arrival that culture shifts and leadership training would foster an institutional commitment to excellence.

“If you set your sights high, develop your leaders, nurture your team and focus on strategic goals, you can meet and even exceed expectations,” he said.

Delivering his seventh State of the Medical Center address on Jan. 23, Sanfilippo looked ahead to another challenging year marked by an emphasis on people, technology and finances and reflected on the past six years of Medical Center performance.

“If you look at all we have accomplished, you’ll see that change is important, change can happen and, often, change is good. Now is the time not just to continue our momentum, but to accelerate it,” he said. “We can settle for nothing less when we have a mission and vision as bold as ours, to create the future of medicine and improve people’s lives through personalized health care.”

The hallmark of the past year, Sanfilippo said, was a ranking based not on reputation or compliance measures, but on quality and safety outcomes. The Medical Center was ranked in the top five academic medical centers nationally in quality and accountability measurements of patient care by the University HealthSystem Consortium, a designation Sanfilippo termed “a tremendous statement about the impact of faculty and staff” and “a great source of pride.”

Among other achievements pointing to consistent upward trends included the health system’s growth in local market share and a 32 percent growth in patient admissions since Fiscal Year 2000, a new high of $188.7 million in external research support in 2006 — a 12 percent increase over the previous year — and the development of 10 new fellowship programs.

Other rankings also remain important, including:

• the College of Medicine’s U.S. News & World Report ranking showing the largest one-year and five-year jumps in the country;

• OSU Physicians’ rating by Anthem as best in clinical quality performance in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky in 2006;

• the health system’s status as the only adult hospital in central Ohio named among the Leapfrog Group’s national list of top hospitals for quality and safety;

• a second consecutive top-20 hospital ranking in number of top programs by U.S. News & World Report;

• and the seventh consecutive year as a “Most Wired” health system.

The strategic planning that has been a guide to date will serve as a framework for the future as well. Though implementation of the first phase of the master space plan will bring the most visible changes to the Medical Center, what’s happening inside the new structures will be the most vital, Sanfilippo said.

Three components of the strategic plan will emphasize building and fostering a talent base of people, leveraging current strengths under a technology plan that will enable programs and people to function more effectively, and setting robust financial targets for the next five years to provide resources for continued growth.

“A two-fold increase in revenues and consistent positive operating margins for the past four years have been essential in allowing us to grow our programs and reach our goals. The focus of the next five years will be maintaining a strong operating margin for reinvestment purposes, ensuring steady cash flow and protecting the university’s debt position. We’re already ahead of this year’s targets,” he said.

Outside, the Medical Center will continue forward movement on the first phase of its facilities plan, which encompasses a new cancer hospital, critical care tower, diagnostic and testing core, faculty offices and three parking decks. The plan also includes a new digestive health center set to open this year and two new patient floors under construction atop the Ross Heart Hospital.

Central to patient care, research and educational activities will be the six signature programs — cancer, critical care, heart, imaging, neurosciences and transplantation — serving as the foundation for interdisciplinary program growth across the entire Medical Center. The signature programs’ most recent developments account for at least 40 recent faculty and scientist recruitments, dozens of new research initiatives and tens of millions of dollars in new grant support, most resulting from collaboration across disciplines.

“As research, education and patient care are becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, teamwork becomes more critical to be successful and innovative,” Sanfilippo said. “Teamwork is what makes the impossible possible and what makes the possible happen.”

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