9 Page 2-The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 6, 1990 Budget rises as... University Hospitals prepare for the future by Karen Akerlof Daily NSE Contributor University Hospitals and the health care organizations which come under the governance of the Regents, comprise a large fraction of the University's budget and com- mand a large amount of the Univer- sity's administrative attention. "The hospital is the largest single piece of the University's budget," said history professor Nicholas Ste- neck, who teaches a class on the his- tory of the University, "and if you get attention in accordance to how important you are...." Although the hospitals operate ,nder a separate budget from that of the rest of the University, they are .part of the University and are incor- porated under the Regents. Regent Paul Brown, (D- .Petoskey), who has served on the Board since 1971 when the plans for the new hospitals were in infancy, said the Board of Regents does not spend any more time overseeing University Hospitals than it did ten and fifteen years ago. However, Brown admitted that one of the reasons the Regents do not spend any more time adminis- trating University hospitals than in the past has been due to the creation in the early eighties of a new admin- istrative position, vice-provost for medical affairs. Medical care at the University of Michigan extends past merely physi- cal care: MCARE, the University's insurance company, started approxi- mately four years ago as the Univer- sity looked to, and sought to dupli- cate, the lucrative insurance plans such as that of fellow teaching insti- tution Henry Ford Hospital, which operates Health Alliance Plan, said Associate Hospital Director of Fi- nance David Southwell.- While the non-care giving side of the University's health services grows, conversely the number of full-time, non-care giving employees has shrunk in the past two years, ac- cording to a report presented to the Regents this summer. The rise in the number of hospi- tal employees resulted from the physical expansion of the hospitals as well as the addition of programs such as MCARE. The additional ca- pacity and attractiveness of the new University hospitals' facilities have drawn an increasing number of pa- tients each year, and caused a steady increase in the hospitals' budget, Southwell said. Under the 1989-90 budget Uni- versity hospitals projected expendi- tures of approximately $440 mil- lion, roughly a third of the projected costs for the rest of the University. In January 1986, the new adult and psychiatric hospitals were com- pleted to a tune of $242 million. The maternal and child health care center, currently under construction, will cost some $48.9 million. "The new hospital was not ex- pected to be as successful as it is," Southwell said. Brown added that the early projections for the hospital were purposefully pessimistic. Though both Brown and Southwell would not speculate what the effect on the rest of the University would have been had the new hospital gen- erated insufficient revenues to repay the construction debts, Steneck said the University took quite a risk at a time when it was experiencing fi- nancial difficulties. One of the goals of the costly new hospital facilities has been to increase the national ranking of the University's medical school. Accord- ing to the Gourman Report, a rank- ing of graduate and professional pro- grams, the new facilities have not af- fected the medical school's standing. For the past thirteen years the report consistently ranked the school tenth in the nation. Brown faulted the Report for inadequately reflecting the status of the University's medical school, and said that before the building of the new facilities, the medical school ac- creditation board criticized the Uni- versity for its horrible facilities. Thomas Shope, Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the medi- cal school, could not say what effect the building of the new hospital has RU TH UII MANNUaiiy An ambulance from University Hospitals fleet of emergency vehicles. In the past two decades, the University created a giant in the medical care field. had on the national standing of the University's medical school, beyond that the new facility "reflects an abil- ity to teach effectively." Shope said that admissions has not seen any significant rise in applications which can be tied to the building of the new facilities. You're the Quarterback- 4th and Goal to Go to finish that term paper... - ..,.,- .n M ::.::.:.::.::::n:tD Univer~sity of Michigan Information Technology Service Center is your ON CAMPUS authorized computer repair facility Students, Faculty and Staff 0 What wni I I 'sriuI rln?' The Univers in cooperation with Apple Computer, IB brings you Compute - - - - - - -- - -, .-- RQ.lmE 535 W. 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