Case Western Financial Status

[BBB123]

OK,

Question for you guys.

I went to Case Western (university hospitals) and was very impressed with the program. I had a really good gut feeling about the program after the interview. I thought the residents were great and the PD was a very nice guy. There was relatively good fellowship placement... I also liked the city of Cleveland.

However, since some time passed I have been a little skeptical about the program. Reading the department of medicine progress report that they gave us, they explicitly state that they have been having a hard time over the last few years with declining research funding and other difficulties (I have to mention that even with their declines it still seems like they are doing relatively well). This however, wouldn't have lit up light bulb in my head if it wasn't for several other issues. Apparently, the new medical school at Cleveland Clinic is affiliated with Case Western. The University hospitals have been having an issue with affiliation with Case Western in the past (this is even stated in the dep of med prog report). Although they apparently signed a 50 year contract a few years ago between Case and UH, I still question their affiliation. If you go to the University Hospitals website and look up the residents association, you find that one of the issues that they are trying to iron out is the fact that the residents don't get access to any Case Western facilities, including libraries, gyms.... Additionally residents don't get access to the email system at Case. I have asked about this during the interview, but did not get a clear answer.

I completely understand that despite all of these seemingly minor issues, UH is still a nationally ranked program. With this being said, what do you guys make of this new affiliation between Case Western and Cleveland Clinic through the new med school. Do you guys think it would have an affect on the IM residency program at UH x 3 years? Am I overreacting to this? I hope to hear from people who already interviewed there or went to med school there

thanks

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[Art Vandelay]

I'm a Case som'er. I wouldn't worry too much about all that. The relationship b/t Case and UH is as strong as ever. Case, Case Med, UH, CCF, CCF-COM all have new leadership w/in the past few years who all get along really well. In fact, the fine woman they got to run the CCF-COM came w/ Dr. Hundert (Case pres.) from Rochester SOM. As far as residency is concerned, UH is much stronger than CCF and there really is no interaction. Financially, every academic center has been taking hits here and there. At PENN, they spoke about this as well. He made it sound like it's it has become a matter of having to maintain their focus and priority on education in spite of more limited recources. I can't imagine that a place like UH would ever allow education to suffer. There are too many committed people in the right places so to speak. Case seems to get donations like crazy as well. Just got 5 million today for some research or something? This is a common occurrance. You will not have to worry about adequate research opportunities if you have time and interest. They are building a simulation center that should be ready soon. Got like 10-20 million from some donor for that. UH and CCF have a lot of new affiliations outside of the med school as well. Overall, it's been a very exciting time here.

 

[csullivan]

I serve on the Association of Residents and Fellows at UH. I will answer some of the questions you have.

1) Case Western and University Hospital have signed a 50 year agreement to work together. The ink is dry and the deal done. They are still working out some points of the contract which include UH staff access to CWR facilities. We expect that to be finalized within the next 3-4 months. However this will not affect the relationship. Working out minor details post signing is a common practice with large institutions.

2) The new medical school you spoke of is actually a Cleveland Clinic/Case Western/University Hospital school. All three institutions are working together at the new school. It is a program specifically designed for research path people and is a 5 year program which includes research. The new school does not detract from the UH and Case relationship but actually builds on it. It also builds some new bridges between UH and Cleveland Clinic.

3) All institutions have taken funding hits with the recent down turn in the economy. UH is ranked 12th of all Internal Medicine programs for NIH funding per NIH statistics. So if funding is a concern there are only 11 other programs in the country that do better. UH always has statements in our general guide that indicate we need to do better. We are not ranked #1 yet .

4) UH is finanically solvent. Has a good cash flow and operating budget. There are no indications of any financial difficulties at the hosptial. We continue to hire new staff and the hospital runs close to capacity throughout the year.

5) The IM Residency has been approved for the next 5 years (The longest approval interval a program can receive).

I hope this answers your questions. The program is nationally ranked and is well positioned to improve on it's ranking and move forward over the next 5 years.