Vol. 38, No. 18

2-4-2005
By: Emily Caldwell

State of the Medical Center address

Countdown to the top tier in 2008

Who would have thought in 2001, asked Fred Sanfilippo, that by 2004 the Ohio State Medical Center would employ 80 percent of the designated “Best Doctors” in Columbus and double biomedical research funding? Or open a state-of-the-art heart hospital and new centers in knowledge management and clinical skills training that are models for medical education across the country? Or break ground on the largest research building on campus without state or university capital funds? Or significantly move the organizational culture from a passive-avoidant norm to one that is more competitive and achievement oriented?

“Some in the past may have dismissed these and other accomplishments as impossible to achieve,” said Sanfilippo, senior vice president and executive dean of health sciences, dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health and CEO of OSU Medical Center. “But one of the biggest cultural accomplishments here in the past four years has been the rejection of that line of thinking. The faculty and staff, who are the driving force of OSU Medical Center, share a common vision for this institution and are moving together toward the goal of performing among the top quartile of academic medical centers in research, education and patient care by 2008.”

Sanfilippo outlined the year’s accomplishments and hinted at what lies ahead during his annual State of the Medical Center address Jan. 27, pointing to advanced research efforts and innovative business partnerships as major undertakings in the coming year.

The cancer program in particular is poised for significant expansion in both research and clinical areas, and related architectural and engineering recommendations will factor into a master space planning project for the entire health sciences campus. Support and direction are provided in part by continued strategic planning to maximize national competitiveness and progress toward a Medical Center fundraising campaign.

Among other initiatives Sanfilippo highlighted is the planned OSU Institute for Personalized Health Care, a venture intended to expand translational research and ultimately improve health outcomes by spearheading the redesign of health care delivery. Potential partners include other academic institutions, government agencies, and private-sector and nonprofit companies.
Development of the institute and a proposal to launch a particle therapy program both factor into stepped-up technology transfer efforts at the Medical Center. The leverage of University Medical Center Partners, a nonprofit corporation created to support commercialization efforts in 2004, is also on the institutional agenda for 2005.

“A missing link at this point in our research and service programs is having access to a solidly structured enterprise specifically designed to protect, manage and leverage innovations that have potential in the marketplace,” Sanfilippo said. “Our whole purpose is to improve people’s lives through education, research and patient care, and sometimes commercializing technologies developed here is the best way to have the greatest impact.”

Pursuit of business partnerships as part of an interdisciplinary approach to science has helped fuel the continuing growth in biomedical research funding, which has remained on an upward trend over the past year. Research funding was up 9.3 percent in fiscal year 2004 to $165.6 million, compared to $151.5 million the previous year. In fact, six medical investigators are among the entire university’s top 25 research funding earners in the most recent fiscal year, accounting for more than $41 million in support.

The research growth has accompanied growth within the OSU Health System, which recorded a $6.5 million operating gain and an increase of $14.1 million in net assets for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. Total OSU Health System revenues for fiscal year 2004 were $926 million, a 13 percent increase over the prior fiscal year and a 71 percent increase over revenues posted in fiscal year 2000.

In addition, more and more students are applying to OSU’s specialized medical programs — in the past two years the Integrated Biomedical Science Graduate Program saw a 22 percent increase in the number of applicants and the M.D./Ph.D. program’s applicant pool has more than doubled. And applications to medical school were up 14 percent for last fall’s class, more than five times the national average.

Many other enhancements celebrated at OSU Medical Center in the past year are of the bricks and mortar variety: the opening of the Ross Heart Hospital, a new patient parking garage and new state Route 315 ramps, creation of the Polaris Innovation Center, the beginning of construction of the Biomedical Research Tower and the movement of several services to the Morehouse Medical Plaza on Kenny Road. And there is pride in many new and growing programs: a comprehensive transplant center, a strong nurse recruitment effort and status as a top educator nationally in medical humanities. But Sanfilippo emphasized that the people behind the programs and inside the buildings — the new recruits and the longtime faculty and staff — have been central to the Medical Center’s success.

“We talk about performance, processes, revenues, synergy, strength, all of the things that are important to a thriving organization. But people, the teams they form and the partners they make, are and will always be our greatest asset,” Sanfilippo said.

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