UCI Medical Center Leadership Deserves a Closer Look, Credit

* There have been several articles and editorials lately about the resignation of the UCI Medical School Dean (Dr. Walter L. Henry).

The picture being painted is not entirely accurate, and may even lead to the impression that “the sky is falling” on the medical school.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that UCI is one of this nation’s up-and-coming youngest universities.

It brings to Orange County tens of millions of dollars of government and private money each year, and is the third largest employer in the county.

UCI’s role and impact on the burgeoning Orange County biomedical technology companies is crucial to the success of that industry.

UCI’s medical school has become one of the country’s leading centers for research in such areas as Huntington’s disease, brain and other neuroscience diseases (UCI is ranked sixth in the nation in the field of neurosciences), and neonatal medicine.

In addition, UCI’s cancer research and clinical cancer program is likely to receive major recognition as a regional cancer program by the National Cancer Institute very shortly. (UCI) Medical Center has been operating in the black for the past several years following a long history of red ink.

This is largely due to the business skill of the hospital’s executive director (Mary Piccione).

In fact, UCI’s hospital is one of the few (if not only) public academic hospitals in the state that has been in the black.

The new chancellor is taking the helm of an institution that has grown both in national stature and in its role as a crucial player in the future of the county.

She has an unparalleled opportunity to bring UCI into the very top ranks of U.S. universities and to provide Orange County with the resources and talent that it will need to maintain its position as a desirable place to live, raise a family, and to do business in the 21st Century.

MICHAEL W. BERNS

President, CEO Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic

Irvine

* ragMary Piccione, executive director of the UCI Medical Center is the person responsible for the financial turnaround. She accepted the directorship knowing of the red ink that flowed at the time. Quietly, she developed a plan to make the center fiscally solvent.

In the opinion of many, she has never been fully recognized for that feat.

Dean Walter Henry had been a major player in bringing the biotech industry to the campus, but he should not be credited with the financial miracle at the medical center.

JUDY B. ROSENER

Irvine

* The story of Dr. (Walter) Henry’s plight in dealing with (Chancellor Laurel L.) Wilkening truly proves the ineptness of many political appointees.

Any of you who have employed people realize that true leadership abilities will be found in less than 5% of the group.

Looking at Dr. Henry’s qualifications, it is obvious that a replacement will be very hard to find.

Dr. Henry has requested the creation of a subordinate position and Ms. Wilkening refuses to face the responsibility to do this. This shows real leadership.

We are losing the man who has probably saved the California taxpayer $50 million to avoid a new burden of possibly $15,000 per month.

A quick look at Dr. Henry’s responsibilities leads me to believe that this man puts in at least 80 hours per week.

Dr. Henry has taken an increasingly complex task and restored order and sanity, while dealing with the growing burden of uncompensated care for the newly poor, the “undocumented” who cannot get care elsewhere (especially in their countries of origin) and the insurance companies with their “managed health” systems.

I can only hope that something can be worked out that will benefit the taxpayers, even if there is a little damage to Ms. Wilkening’s ego.

LEON H. COLEMAN

Westminster