KU News Release

AS I SEE IT: Unite behind a regional medical powerhouse

Chancellor Robert Hemenway

LAWRENCE — The following is University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway’s commentary regarding KU Medical Center affiliations that appeared in the Kansas City Star on March 1.

Every day, the University of Kansas carries out one of the most profound responsibilities in state government.

The only academic medical center in the state, KU annually trains hundreds of doctors, nurses, therapists, researchers and other health-care providers in Kansas City and Wichita.

All of this makes KU’s Medical Center a complicated institution. It is a business, a school, a research center and a hospital.

Given its responsibilities, KU’s academic medical center has to get it right. All of its component parts have to share and advance toward a vision of the future.

Our vision is passionate, clear and unyielding: to create in Kansas and the greater Kansas City region our own version of a Mayo Clinic or an M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

To achieve it, a full convergence of exceptional institutions has been proposed — one that would create collaborative affiliations between the KU Medical Center, the KU Hospital, Children’s Mercy Hospital and St. Luke’s Health System. Pivotal in this endeavor is the unique opportunity for all of us to leverage the support of the Stowers Institute and philanthropic leaders.

The potential is truly transformative, both for our region and for each institution. The partnerships will train more doctors at KU, allow our researchers to produce more cures and treatments, and significantly boost economic vitality.

Training more doctors is critical. To answer rising demand for physicians, the American Medical Association is urging academic medical centers to prepare more doctors. The Association of American Medical Colleges has called on U.S. medical schools to increase by 30 percent the number of residents training in U.S. medical schools.

KU currently trains doctors in multiple sites in Kansas City and Wichita. The affiliation with St. Luke’s could add l00 residents to this mix, and St. Luke’s would pay the full cost, $100,000 per resident, per year. By training more doctors, we provide the region with an increased supply of future physicians.

Everyone can think of institutions that missed their cue for the future. The American automobile industry, for instance — acknowledged for years for its innovation — today is shuttering factories and desperately seeking the spark to competitiveness. To remain competitive, institutions must evolve. They must stay close to their customers and adjust to rapidly changing market demands. This is as true for medical centers as it is for automobile companies.

We cannot and will not be hostage to the status quo. We must pursue a vision that ensures our region will be a leader in research and health care.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.