Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is now operating as a fully independent, nonprofit entity, following the completion of the legal transaction on April 30 that separated it legally and financially from Vanderbilt University. The transition positions VUMC for future growth and investment, while preserving its tightly woven connections to the University in research and teaching.
Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of VUMC, will continue to serve as dean for the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
“While we are now optimally positioned for the future of health care delivery, we have taken care to assure VUMC will remain seamlessly connected to Vanderbilt University in fundamental ways, including a vast array of educational and research programs aimed at training the leaders of the future and driving innovation through discovery science,” Balser said.
VUMC will now be guided by its own Board of Directors. Chaired by Edith Carell Johnson, the Medical Center’s new board is comprised of university and academic medical center leadership, and individuals with diverse experiences and talents including clinical practice, health care education, biomedical research, biotechnology commercialization, banking, capital financing, law and other disciplines. The Board’s experience reflects the totality of VUMC’s mission as an academic medical center.
The restructuring of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center began in November 2014 following a yearlong study by the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust in response to the rapidly changing health care economy. As an independent entity, VUMC will have direct capital market access to assure it can compete effectively in the health marketplace. Its new flexible governance structure will also support the continued growth of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, which is the largest provider-organized network of doctors, regional health systems and other health care providers in Tennessee and surrounding states.
Teaching and research collaboration and connections between the University and the Medical Center remain a strategic priority for both institutions.
The development of the organizational structures, technology, processes and procedures needed to separate the Medical Center and University was carried out by 20 transition teams and involved a multitude of faculty and staff.
