If you're not a UNECOMer the closing of University Health Care won't mean much, so don't look for a punch line or a deeper message here. If you are part of the flock, check out http://sites.google.com/site/unecomconcern/home for more information.
If you've got an opinion, please use the contact information below to let the board of trustees know where you stand.
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Timeline of Events - Prepared by Dr. Christopher Pezzullo
Time Line
- 6/1/08 Dr. Cawley starts as VPCA, John Gimpel starts as Dean, Dr. Pezzullo starts as Medical Director
- 6/10/08 Dr Cawley forces resignation of Drs. Stockwell and Garrett, Finance Director of UHC Becky Behme is fired
- 9/1/08 Dr. Cawley gives her notice, will be a VP at Maine Health
- 10/1/08 UHC Transition Team (Cawley, Allcorn, Gimpel, Pezzullo, Ward) starts 2x/mo meetings
- 10/15/08 DCO (Nancy Kiernan) starts, and joins transition team
- 10/31/08 Dr. Cawley’s last day
- Transition Team headed by Seth Allcorn, VP Finance meets to excitedly plan for a new UHC that is interprofessional, intercollegiate and financially secure
- 2/15/09 Seth tells us that the President wants to shut UHC down. We re-double efforts to create a salvageable UHC
- 3/17/09 Dr. Pezzullo proposes to Board of Trustees Finance Committee a $20/hour teaching allocation, banked in arrears—they endorse a $400,00 allocation using this model
- Seth no longer engaged as Transition Team leader states that there’s no way to “make it work”
- 6/16/09 3 Proposals offered to President for UHC: Stand-alone Corp., MSO, shrunk-down COM-centric model
- 7/2/09 President rejects all proposals, says she’s shutting UHC down
- 7/15/09 June figures show that UHC makes its first 1-month profit in almost a decade!
- 8/4/09 90-day notice letter of termination sent to all 100 UHC employees
- Closure of UHC will result in nearly $2 million in costs, near-abandonment of >20k patients, continued costs to train medical students outside of UNE and the loss of all medical clinics at COM/UNE
Second Letter from Dr. Owen Pickus to BOT
Dear Members of the Board,I am sure this ongoing debate over UHC is growing somewhat tiresome for many of you. Unfortunately, I must continue the dialogue. The update below by Dr. Ripich, once again fails to respond to the most important fundamental question. Since SMMC and Maine Health have made no promises regarding any ultimate committeement to UHC, what happens in the alternative? Moreover, Dr. Bates assures me that Dr. Ripich was given three viable alternates to salvage UHC, she choose none of them. Instead, she unilateraly elected to close UHC. Only after that decision was made did Dr. Bates offer to contact SMMC for their interest. He asked Dr. Ripich for 120 days to negotiate and achieve the best terms possible if a deal could be struck. Rather than accept his advice, she offered 30 days to make a deal and simulatneously announced the UHC closure. By going "public" with this position, she placed the University and Dr. Bates in the unenviable task of arranging a deal with Maine Health with their awareness that we had little left on the table to offer. Any good business person knows that you go into a posture to strike a deal with another party without displaying your weaknesses. Clearly this did not happen here and now Maine Health can pick and choose the best parts of UHC and dismiss the rest. According to Dr. Bates and Dr. Pezzullo, this has left us at the mercy of Maine Health to dictate our future. Finally, as comments flow from the community regarding the UHC closure, we cannot with any assurance make statements of how we will support our students, the Health Center or our existing patients at UHC. Understand this is not about Dr. Ripich but about the community perception of how UNE does it's business. So far, the feedback from outside UNE and also from within has been less than supportive. Please reconsider the need to have a sub-committee formed now to deal with this difficult situation.
Thank you all for you continued interest,
Owen Pickus
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Letter from Dr Geraldine Ollila to BOT
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Members of the BOT:Over the past ten years, UNE/COM has seen rapid growth and an equivalent rise in its national prestige. Alumni support has been instrumental in contributing to this success. Remarkably, our Osteopathic physician graduates have been a cornerstone of healthcare in Maine participating in student education and fund raising for COM. Recent change and instability at UNECOM (as outlined below) has raised serious concerns from our valued alumni and Osteopathic physician graduates that must be critically evaluated and challenged.
* Potential closure of UHC, 100+ jobs at risk, loss of student education sites, 20,000 plus patients displaced. Potential acquisition by Maine Health resulting in an uncertain future for UHC.
* COM Dean turnover, local and nationally respected Dr. Boyd Buser passed over for Dean. Dr. Jackie Cawley appointed interim Dean with significant local controversy over ties to Maine Health. Dr. John Gimpel appointed and resigned within one year. Dr. Cawley reappointed as Dean, accepted position, withdrew within 48 hours. COM Dean position remains unfilled contributing to further uncertainty.
* Loss of longstanding Osteopathic residency, displacing desperately needed local Osteopathic physicians.
* Unprecedented number of UNE/COM senior staff/management turnover (Dean of COM, VP Financial Affairs, Dean of Students, and other VP’s of the University).
* Pursuit of a Dental school in uncertain financial times with excessive expenditures in the exploration process with no success to date.
* Turmoil at COM has resulted in a significant drop off of student applicants of 2.8% (the largest decline in the country) while nationally the application rate to other Osteopathic medical schools has risen by 8.9%.
I implore you as Board members to independently evaluate these events raised by our valued alumni and osteopathic physician graduates. These decisions may have permanent impact on UNE/COM.
Thank you for your time and consideration at these critical times.
Sincerely,
Geraldine Ollila D.O., P.T., UNE’ 88, COM 93
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Letter from Dr. John Peterson to the BOT
Dear Chairman Morel and members of the UNE Board of Trustees:
John M. Peterson, D.O. here. I was a member of the founding class at UNECOM and I have been the Executive Director of the Vermont State Association of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons, Inc. for over 25 years. I recently received a copy of Dr. Pickus' letter regarding the situation with UHC from one of my association members and have also discussed the situation with our president John Johansson, D.O./UNECOM '82.
I am writing to express our extremely serious concerns with this matter as well as our ongoing concerns about the direction that UNE appears to have taken under the leadership of Dr. Ripich.
As a member of the founding class, I can recall very well that St. Francis College was on the verge of becoming an afterthought in the world of educational institutions, when I arrived on the campus. It is my strong belief that without the reorganization of St. Francis College and with the addition of the COM as UNE that the institution would have joined the ranks of extinct educational facilities. With the start of the COM and the graduation of the inaugural class, UNE began to flourish and has now become a world class institution of learning in many fields.
The university and the COM has benefited greatly from the donations of numerous generous individuals including Mr. Alfond, Dr. Pickus, Dr. Morgane and the Lowney family as well as many osteopathic physicians and their patients who all firmly believe in Osteopathy and what it has to offer patients in New England as well as wherever our graduates come to practice.
Several years ago, as I assume you all recall, there was a great deal of consternation over the selection process for the new dean of the COM under Dr. Ripich's leadership. It remains my opinion that we lost an excellent candidate in Dr. Buser, who subsequently was selected to be the dean at the school in Pikeville, KY. That was their gain and our great loss. I can't think of anyone more dedicated to Osteopathy in general and to New England in particular than Dr. Buser, who is also one of the trustees of the AOA.
At that time there was a great deal of anger in the New England osteopathic community both from graduates of the COM as well as from practicing physicians about how Dr. Ripich handled the situation as well as the lack of communication with the alumni and with the practicing D.O.s in New England. I wrote to Dr. Ripich and to the board recommending more and better communication about any events that would vitally impact our profession in this region. I recall receiving assurances that there would be better communication in the future, but clearly that has never happened.
We are distressed that the elimination of the UHC was apparently a unilateral decision by Dr. Ripich without the consultation or the advice of the Board of Trustees. The impact of this decision has major potential adverse effects on the healthcare in the communities involved, on the faculty and on the education of our students.
We are also very concerned about the selection process for the new dean of the COM, about which we remain very much in the dark. We need a strong dean who will look after the COM as well as furthering the advancement of Osteopathy in the region, but we are concerned that someone will be chosen who will only rubberstamp the decisions of Dr. Ripich, instead of standing up for and representing the COM as well as the profession in our region.
As it now stands, we are forced to offer a vote of no confidence for Dr. Ripich in terms of leading the university and, most importantly, in respecting and carrying forward the vision of the founders of the COM and the university.
Respectfully submitted,
John M. Peterson, D.O.
UNECOM 1982
Executive Director, Vermont State Association of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons, Inc.
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Students would like to maintain a uniquely Osteopathic Education and have a place to practice while they are doing so. With the proposition of a buyout, the fact that SMMC is not an Osteopathic hospital must be understood. It is unlikely this institution will foster the climate of Osteopathy that we, as students, are interested in maintaining.
Accreditation is up for review in January 2010. With this much of a decrease in clinical faculty, Dr. Bates has stated we will not be able to pass. The inability to pass this review is due to the significant reduction in student to faculty ratio and the reduced amount of time students are able to spend with clinicians.
Recently, Dr. Ripich made a decision to close down UHC and terminate the entire clinical faculty including the OMM faculty keeping only the heads of the departments.
1. The quality of our education will undoubtedly suffer. SMMC has already said they will not allow physicians working for them to have more than 30% of their time purchased by UNECOM. This said, we currently have 8 OMT-only faculty, allocating 40-60% of their time to UNECOM activities. There is no guarantee from SMMC stating the physicians currently on staff will be rehired.
2. The cost of our education is one of the highest in the country. Closing the student clinic will decrease opportunities for preceptorships and decrease the overall quality of our education without a concurrent reduction in our tuition.
3. The further dilution of Osteopathic culture which will occur with the closure of UHC fundamentally alters the character the students expect and demand from this institution. Students matriculated to a school with a strong foundation in Osteopathy and community service, but the closure of UHC is radically opposed to these ideals.
4. The NMM residency operated jointly by the University and UHC is being put into jeopardy at a time when GME is calling for the expansion of residency positions.
5. Because of the need to buy out contracts and the cost to shut down UHC, there will be an incredible financial burden placed on the students who will in turn see no dividends. Closure of UHC will have an immediate financial impact to the University potentially in excess of two million dollars. President Ripich argues that the clinic’s budget should not be subsidized with student tuition. The use of tuition money for the closing of UHC is by far more inappropriate than using the money toward UHC and our education. The expense of University Health Care is one of the factors that contributes to the cost of our education and should not be viewed as a burden.
***Dr. Pezzullo states that UHC had a profit in July of over 200k which is the first profit in over ten years. This shows that his hard work was turning the financial situation around and may have led to future profits. It clearly will cost far more to close it down. The most appropriate financial decision is to rescind the closing of UHC and keep it with UNECOM.
*** It is less expensive to have the faculty hired by UNE than to hire them as adjunct.
6. The potential loss of accreditation would dramatically affect all students' careers, but would have particular significance to those students who are participating in military HPSP scholarships. These students would no longer be allowed to study at UNECOM, as participants in the HPSP program are required to attend accredited medical schools. However, military student physicians are still under contract to the United States Army/Navy/Air Force. These students would have two choices; one would be to transfer to another Osteopathic medical school. The other would be to immediately repay the United States Government over $80,000 in tuition, fees, expenses, and stipends (approximation of total disbursement to current second year students).
**This fact was obtained through direct communication with the United States Army HPSP Office of Student Management.
7. The decision to close UHC and terminate the associated faculty was made unilaterally and without regard to the input of students or faculty. The full COM Board of Trustees was not apprised of the situation before action was taken. This further highlights the lack of transparency with financial matters and institutional planning. (emphasis added)
8. This should all be viewed in light of the fact that plans are in progress to nearly double class size. Doubling of class size with dramatic reductions in OMM faculty will seriously dilute the Osteopathic character of our school, a fact which many students find simply unpalatable.
Until these concerns are sufficiently addressed, the students of UNECOM will not settle for what they are given, they will fight for what they expect and deserve from this great institution.
The best decision for students educationally is to keep UHC with UNECOM.
The best financial decision is to rescind the termination of clinical faculty as well as OMM faculty and keep our faculty intact.
UHC is an educational expense, as are the faculty. They have always been a part of the tuition.
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Michael Campinell, Student Trustee
Daniel D’Entremont
Brian Dallaire, Pharm.D.
Mark Doiron, Vice Chair
Jenna Fucetola, Student Trustee
Alfred H. Fuchs, Ph.D.
Vincent E. Furey, Jr.
Sandi Goolden
Karin A. Gregory
Keith R. Jacques, J.D.
Joseph F. Karpinski, D.D.S.
Charles J. Kean, III, C.P.A.
Robert Leonard, D.O. ’86
Michael A. Morel, Chair
James Norwood, Jr. ’66
Diane M. Nugent, D.O. ’92
Eugene A. Oliveri, D.O.
Gary Palman, D.O.
Owen Pickus D.O.
Hugo Ricci ’66
Danielle Ripich, Ph.D., President (ex-officio)
Alice Savage, M.D., Ph.D. ’55
Terrance J. Sheehan, M.D.
Normand E. Simard
Kenneth G. Simone, D.O. `87
Melinda Small, Ph.D.
Gerald Talbot
John E. Thron
Tonia Hanson Tibbetts
Harold E. Woodsum, Jr., L.L.B.
Ann.Butterworth@libertymutual.com
mcampinell@mail.une.edu
mdoiron@hannaford.com
ddentremont@maine.rr.com
bdallaire@usa.net
afuchs@bowdoin.edu
jfucetola@mail.une.edu
vfurey@maine.rr.com
sgoolden@maine.rr.com
kjacques@sesg.com
jfkarpy@webtv.net
cjk@macpage.com
hairdr@pol.net
mmorel2@maine.rr.com
Jim@newbalanceva.com
dmn ugent@maine.rr.com
picooliveri@aol.com
palmag@spectrummg.com
opickus@maine.rr.com
hukathy@msn.com
dripich@une.edu
sav1121age@fairpoint.net
tsheehan@medicalmutual.com
norm7077@aol.com
ksimone@sunburypc.com
mysmall@suscom-maine.net
gtalbot@maine.rr.com
JohnEThron@aol.com
tibmar@pivot.net
hwoodsum@maine.rr.com
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Student Concerns
Please Read and Comment
Accreditation is up for review in January 2010. With this much of a decrease in clinical faculty, Dr. Bates has stated we will not be able to pass. The inability to pass this review is due to the significant reduction in student to faculty ratio and the reduced amount of time students are able to spend with clinicians.
Recently, Dr. Ripich made a decision to close down UHC and terminate the entire clinical faculty including the OMM faculty keeping only the heads of the departments.
1. The quality of our education will undoubtedly suffer. SMMC has already said they will not allow physicians working for them to have more than 30% of their time purchased by UNECOM. This said, we currently have 8 OMT-only faculty, allocating 40-60% of their time to UNECOM activities. There is no guarantee from SMMC stating the physicians currently on staff will be rehired.
2. The cost of our education is one of the highest in the country. Closing the student clinic will decrease opportunities for preceptorships and decrease the overall quality of our education without a concurrent reduction in our tuition.
3. The further dilution of Osteopathic culture which will occur with the closure of UHC fundamentally alters the character the students expect and demand from this institution. Students matriculated to a school with a strong foundation in Osteopathy and community service, but the closure of UHC is radically opposed to these ideals.
4. The NMM residency operated jointly by the University and UHC is being put into jeopardy at a time when GME is calling for the expansion of residency positions.
5. Because of the need to buy out contracts and the cost to shut down UHC, there will be an incredible financial burden placed on the students who will in turn see no dividends. Closure of UHC will have an immediate financial impact to the University potentially in excess of two million dollars. President Ripich argues that the clinic’s budget should not be subsidized with student tuition. The use of tuition money for the closing of UHC is by far more inappropriate than using the money toward UHC and our education. The expense of University Health Care is one of the factors that contributes to the cost of our education and should not be viewed as a burden.
***Dr. Pezzullo states that UHC had a profit in July of over 200k which is the first profit in over ten years. This shows that his hard work was turning the financial situation around and may have led to future profits. It clearly will cost far more to close it down. The most appropriate financial decision is to rescind the closing of UHC and keep it with UNECOM.
*** It is less expensive to have the faculty hired by UNE than to hire them as adjunct.
6. The potential loss of accreditation would dramatically affect all students' careers, but would have particular significance to those students who are participating in military HPSP scholarships. These students would no longer be allowed to study at UNECOM, as participants in the HPSP program are required to attend accredited medical schools. However, military student physicians are still under contract to the United States Army/Navy/Air Force. These students would have two choices; one would be to transfer to another Osteopathic medical school. The other would be to immediately repay the United States Government over $80,000 in tuition, fees, expenses, and stipends (approximation of total disbursement to current second year students).
**This fact was obtained through direct communication with the United States Army HPSP Office of Student Management.
7. The decision to close UHC and terminate the associated faculty was made unilaterally and without regard to the input of students or faculty. The full COM Board of Trustees was not apprised of the situation before action was taken. This further highlights the lack of transparency with financial matters and institutional planning. (emphasis added)
8. This should all be viewed in light of the fact that plans are in progress to nearly double class size. Doubling of class size with dramatic reductions in OMM faculty will seriously dilute the Osteopathic character of our school, a fact which many students find simply unpalatable.
The best decision for students educationally is to keep UHC with UNECOM.
The best financial decision is to rescind the termination of clinical faculty as well as OMM faculty and keep our faculty intact.
UHC is an educational expense, as are the faculty. They have always been a part of the tuition.
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Contact info for BOT
Ann Butterworth ’77 ’81, Secretary, TreasurerMichael Campinell, Student Trustee
Daniel D’Entremont
Brian Dallaire, Pharm.D.
Mark Doiron, Vice Chair
Jenna Fucetola, Student Trustee
Alfred H. Fuchs, Ph.D.
Vincent E. Furey, Jr.
Sandi Goolden
Karin A. Gregory
Keith R. Jacques, J.D.
Joseph F. Karpinski, D.D.S.
Charles J. Kean, III, C.P.A.
Robert Leonard, D.O. ’86
Michael A. Morel, Chair
James Norwood, Jr. ’66
Diane M. Nugent, D.O. ’92
Eugene A. Oliveri, D.O.
Gary Palman, D.O.
Owen Pickus D.O.
Hugo Ricci ’66
Danielle Ripich, Ph.D., President (ex-officio)
Alice Savage, M.D., Ph.D. ’55
Terrance J. Sheehan, M.D.
Normand E. Simard
Kenneth G. Simone, D.O. `87
Melinda Small, Ph.D.
Gerald Talbot
John E. Thron
Tonia Hanson Tibbetts
Harold E. Woodsum, Jr., L.L.B.
Ann.Butterworth@libertymutual.com
mcampinell@mail.une.edu
mdoiron@hannaford.com
ddentremont@maine.rr.com
bdallaire@usa.net
afuchs@bowdoin.edu
jfucetola@mail.une.edu
vfurey@maine.rr.com
sgoolden@maine.rr.com
kjacques@sesg.com
jfkarpy@webtv.net
cjk@macpage.com
hairdr@pol.net
mmorel2@maine.rr.com
Jim@newbalanceva.com
dmn ugent@maine.rr.com
picooliveri@aol.com
palmag@spectrummg.com
opickus@maine.rr.com
hukathy@msn.com
dripich@une.edu
sav1121age@fairpoint.net
tsheehan@medicalmutual.com
norm7077@aol.com
ksimone@sunburypc.com
mysmall@suscom-maine.net
gtalbot@maine.rr.com
JohnEThron@aol.com
tibmar@pivot.net
hwoodsum@maine.rr.com
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In these turbulent times, I'm sure members of the board would welcome any and all input.
(If you skipped to the end hoping for a bit of humor, sorry to let you down. If you scroll down a little further, there's a bit of bog-snorkeling I think you might like.)
This seems absurdly alarmist. Schools don't just lose accreditation over something like this, we have plenty of clinical training sites, and many schools dont have clinics like we have had. Yes, it's a sign of concerns about the president, but not even close to the begining of the end.
ReplyDelete-20,000 underserved patients losing their healthcare
ReplyDelete-100 people losing their jobs
-500 student doctors losing an integral part of their education
Believe me, Anonymous, losing accreditation is the least of my worries.
So, apparently this page is still coming up on Google searches for UNEOM. That said, here's a quick and more hopeful update:
ReplyDelete1) Protest works and the clinics are still open.
2) Dr. Hann got tagged in as Dean of the medical school and is looking to strengthen UNECOM's and University Health's Commitment to the underserved in Southern Maine.
3) Thanks to everyone at UNECOM, UNE, the protesters and the Board of Trustees for making this possible.