Hospitals rapidly expand influence
In the two years since USC took over control of the USC University Hospital and the USC Norris Cancer Hospital, both have seen drastic growth and increased recognition, largely because of both centers’ improved reputation within the medical field.
USC purchased both hospitals from Tenet Healthcare Corp. for $275 million in a deal closed March 31, 2009. This acquisition allowed faculty physicians at USC to care for private patients at both hospitals, giving physicians greater control over the direction of clinical and research programs focusing on a wide array of diseases and health issues.
“We wanted to build a stronger health sciences campus and create a better environment for medical research and teaching,” said Mitchell Creem, CEO of USC Hospitals.
By purchasing these two hospitals, Creem said USC took steps toward a long-term goal of creating a more robust academic medical center at the university.
President C. L. Max Nikias, who at the time of the purchase was the executive vice president and provost at USC, played a major role in the acquisition of the hospitals, and the development of USC’s Health Sciences enterprise is one of Nikias’ goals as president.
Creem praised President Nikias’ involvement in obtaining the hospitals for the university.
“He understood early that in order to have a great medical school, we needed a great medical center as well,” Creem said. “He had a vision that biotechnology research would be a leading force in the 21st century, and he wanted to position USC to be at the forefront of that.”
The hospitals have already been successful in allowing USC to build and implement strong clinical programs, especially in areas such as transplant surgery, cardiovascular surgery, urology and the neurosciences.
“The transplant surgery program has really flourished since we’ve acquired the hospitals,” Creem said. “Our cancer programs have also grown significantly, and we have been able to recruit new doctors for it. All of these clinical programs have been providing additional financial support for the hospitals, and have also improved our national reputation from a marketing and outreach perspective.”
The success of these programs has played a critical role in recruiting more students to the Keck School of Medicine and more experienced and world-renowned doctors to the two hospitals.
“Excellent patient care enhances the reputation of the medical school,” Creem said. “As this gets recognized nationally, we are able to keep attracting higher-quality physicians. This then allows us to get more research funding, which will raise our reputation again, and so on. This creates a really positive cycle by having a great academic medical center in the first place.”
In addition, the hospitals began participating in a distinctive program last December called Project Transformation, which aims to increase communication and cooperation between the five providers of medical care at USC: the county hospital, Tenet Corporation, the USC University Hospital, the USC Norris Cancer Hospital and private practices.
David Logan, a faculty member at the Marshall School of Business and an expert in leadership, negotiations, and corporate strategy who works with Project Transformation, said the program is unique in identifying different unproductive patterns of behavior people have and then finding ways to have the group commit to removing them completely.
“Its impact is going to be very dramatic, and is going to affect every aspect of the hospitals,” Logan said. “It’s going to improve hospitals as a place to work, improve relationships between different groups, and make it more fun to go to work. The quality of work will go up, the medical outcomes will improve, as will the medical decisions and revenue. It’s one of those situations where everybody wins.”
Project Transformation takes place every month for four days, and 60 hospital
employees, nurses, physicians and faculty members learn various strategies on how to build better working relationships with one another and create new possibilities in the realm of health care.
“Our ability to succeed is only limited by our ability to work together effectively,” Creem said. “Project Transformation provides us with a renewed sense of commitment to a new purpose, which is exactly why we wanted to acquire these hospitals in the first place.”
Programs like Project Transformation are just one part of how the university’s purchase of the USC University Hospital and the USC Norris Cancer Hospital has improved the medical communities on campus.
“This acquisition leads to opportunities to create a new and improved USC academic medical center,” Creem said. “We’re trying to create a new brand of medicine.”