Author: P Hasselbacher

UofL Board of Trustees Addresses Governance and Faculty Practice Plan.

trustees-feb5I attended the University of Louisville Board of Trustees meeting yesterday. There was one major item on the published agenda that I wanted to follow, and one not on the agenda that I had hoped to see. Others have reported on additional business conducted by the Board yesterday. What I was most interested in was how the University and Board were going to handle the two-page draft document presented at a committee meeting in January that brought to a head increasing public concern, reinforced by some board members, that they were not being given the information needed, nor the opportunity to discuss issues central to the Board’s legislatively-mandated oversight responsibilities.

Dissidents or public heroes?
The response announced by Board Chairman Robert Hughes was that he was forming an Ad Hoc Committee on Governance on which any interested Board member was invited to participate. He hoped to come to some kind of charge or product in the next 4 to 6 months, presumably coinciding with the time left in his current term as Chairman of the Board. There was no comment from anyone in the room.

Constructive solution or not?
On first blush, it might be said that the important issues on the table are not being swept off under the rug as I feared might have been the case by lack of inclusion on the agenda. On reflection, I have concerns that this approach is not the right one. In the first place, offering committee membership to the “interested,” opens the door to skeptics like me who wonder if this tactic is merely a way to allow board members with concerns to ventilate ineffectively. Would the committee meetings or their minutes be public? Public or not, deciding to join a volunteer-only committee could be taken as an indication of having picked a side and be detrimental to intra-board relationships. No board member should feel any degree of intimidation in stepping forward to suggest that Chairman Hughes might not be correct when he asserts that everything is going well and no meddling is needed, or acknowledging that the community has a right to greater accountability from this public institution. It is the Board as a whole has this latter mandate, not a few self-selected individuals. The rest of us need a clear signal from the University that they are taking this matter seriously and that this is not a fig leaf, ad hoc, off-the-agenda, or less than mainstream fix. Continue reading “UofL Board of Trustees Addresses Governance and Faculty Practice Plan.”

Lots To Write About— So Little Time!

peter-hasselbacherI was traveling some over the last month and got behind on my writing.  I will try to catch up as a lot has been happening both here in Louisville and elsewhere.  Come back to see what is new.  Better yet, sign up for the notification function in the sidebar and you will be notified every time there is a new post or comment. No one but me will know of that request and I will not share.

Better yet, give me some guidance. What you would you like to hear about or contribute?

Peter

Kentucky to the World Presents Louisville Native, Dr. Sander Florman.

Noted transplant surgeon to speak March 12.sander-florman

Dr. Florman, a graduate of St. Francis School and University of Louisville Medical School, will share the fascinating story of his journey from growing up in Louisville, to rebuilding the transplant program in post-Katrina New Orleans, and to leading the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Kentucky to the World (KTW) showcases highly successful individuals with strong Kentucky connections who are seldom seen or heard here.  Dr. Florman’s work as the Director of the Transplant Institute at Tulane University in New Orleans earned him recognition as one of New Orleans Magazine’s “People to Watch”. He was twice named “Health Care Hero” by New Orleans CityBusiness and was chosen as one of Gambit Weekly’s “40 Under 40.” He was recognized by Louisiana Life magazine as one of Louisiana’s “Top Doctors” and “Best Doctors” in 2007-2009. Florman is the author of nine book chapters and more than 75 publications.

EVENT DETAILS-

Continue reading “Kentucky to the World Presents Louisville Native, Dr. Sander Florman.”

Who Pays for Human Organ Transplantation?

In response to a recent article in these pages about human organ transplantation in Kentucky, it was alleged that the University of Kentucky Hospital accepted Medicaid as payment for solid organ transplantation but that the Jewish Hospital program did not. I interviewed a number of individuals with first-hand knowledge but was unable to dispute the assertion that the source (or lack thereof) of a patient’s health insurance makes a difference in who receives an organ— not only here in Kentucky but nationwide. I recently obtained comprehensive payer-specific information from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)– the government-sponsored organization that regulates and oversees virtually all organ transplants performed in the U.S. The short answer is that there is a considerable difference in the payer-mix for solid-organ transplantation between Jewish Hospital and the University of Kentucky (UK). In 2013– the last year for which a full 12 months of reporting is available– Medicaid beneficiaries made up 6.4% of all transplant recipients at Jewish and 15.9% at UK. These figures can be compared to the national proportion of 8.7% Medicaid beneficiaries. It cannot be said that the Jewish Hospital program does not accept Medicaid beneficiaries altogether. Additional details and commentary concerning local and national transplant programs are presented below. Frankly, I had not encountered such data before and I think it will be of general interest to many. Continue reading “Who Pays for Human Organ Transplantation?”