George's Higher Ed Med Shed: UTHSC Houston

UTHSC Houston

07/26/2010

UTHSC Houston Changing Its Brand

The article linked below also discusses the fact that UTHSC Houston President Kaiser has beseeched the Texas Legislature for more money. This from a president who gets commuting costs back and forth to Pennsylvania. If I were sitting on a legislative finance committee, such an entreaty from Kaiser would fly about like the proverbial lead balloon. UTHSC Houston may well need more money; I don't know. I would still want the institution to clean its own house before cleaning out the state treasury.

UTHealth prez Dr. Larry Kaiser talks about the name change, the future of medicine & why he still scrubs into the OR - 2010-Jul-26 - CultureMap Houston

CM: Why did you change the name to UTHealth?

LK: It was pretty obvious there was a lack of understanding in the community about our long name, which is still our name. A lot of people really didn't know what a health science center was. Rebranding us as UTHealth will better allow us to better establish an identity. A lot of people don't know that UT physicians are closely associated with Memorial Hermann Hospital — even something that basic is not well-known.

Jul 26, 2010 11:23:48 AM | UTHSC Houston

07/05/2010

No Protection: UT Resident Did Not Follow Procedure for Complaint

While the facts of this case may indicate that the resident would not have prevailed in any case, certainly his actions, as the court indicates, did not result in protected behavior. You can't just start a shouting match; you've got to follow the rules. In a decision dated April 20, 2010, this University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston resident found out the hard way.

Laws, Life, and Legal Matters - Court Cases and Legal Information at Leagle.com - All Federal and State Appeals Court Cases in One Search

Gollas did not do anything that is protected by the statute. His principal means for reporting what he saw was by provoking an altercation with Arroyo in the emergency center. Gollas could have followed hospital procedure and made a proper complaint in writing; instead, vented his anger at Arroyo. That act does not underlie a claim for retaliation.

Jul 5, 2010 7:20:03 AM | Lawsuits, UTHSC Houston

07/04/2010

Revenue of Texas Medical Universities

I obtained the following revenue comparison from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board website, specifically the interactive data section. It provides some very useful information, such as the revenue comparison linked in the Excel spreadsheet below.

Download Revenue comparison

I was surprised to learn that the University of Texas Medical Branch is second only to M.D. Anderson, albeit a distant second, in terms of total revenue. This is the university constantly complaining to the Legislature about how poor it is. Of course, the university would come back with the idea that it has expenses to match its relatively large revenue, but let us not forget that during the 2008 reduction in force, UTMB staff was lining up for $3 million in bonuses.

Jul 4, 2010 9:02:43 AM | Budgets, Compensation, layoffs/terminations, MD Anderson, Reduction in force, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Univ. of North Texas, UT Southwestern, UTHSC Houston, UTHSC San Antonio, UTMB

07/01/2010

THECB Accountability System: Texas Medical School Expense Performance

Curious about how your medical school stacks up against other schools in Texas? Then go to this website and look at the interactive data available there. I've already gone there and looked at a small part of the information available, operating expenses per full-time faculty and full-time staff, the results of which appear below the link.The results, particularly those for UTMB, are rather surprising to me. UTMB appears to be an expense leader, ahead of the pack in expenses per staff, and in competition to lead the pack in expenses per full-time faculty members. And this from an institution that seems to try to solve its budget problems through reductions in force. Another RIF or two, and it will be the leader in both categories, I suspect.

http://www.txhighereddata.org/interactive/accountability/

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Accountability System
Institution	Operating Expense Per FTFE - Per FTFE	Operating Expense Per FTSE - Per FTSE
Institution	(FY 2009)	(FY 2009)
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center	$522,959	$98,101
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center	$742,571	$160,595
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston	$613,688	$205,088
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio	$458,945	$210,039
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler	$1,419,046	na
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center	$1,660,211	na
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston	$1,180,710	$615,845
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas	$813,174	$596,798
University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth	$553,628	$154,776
Statewide Totals	$903,250	$288,083

Jul 1, 2010 8:43:46 AM | Budgets, MD Anderson, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Univ. of North Texas, UT Southwestern, UTHSC Houston, UTHSC San Antonio, UTMB

06/29/2010

UTHSC Houston Faculty Compensation Plan

In response to a Texas Public Information Act request, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston sent me the compensation plan linked below. As readers can see, faculty compensation at UTHSC is based on three components: base compensation, "augmentation compensation," and incentive compensation. Base compensation is relatively hard for administrators to manipulate because it is based on faculty rank. Augmentation and incentive compensation, however, are relatively malleable. Please allow me to remind readers once again that the University of Texas publicly stated policy on tenure is that it protects only a position and not compensation.

Download UTHSC Houston Comp HOOP 193

Jun 29, 2010 6:16:07 AM | Compensation, Tenure, UTHSC Houston

06/22/2010

UT System Salary Supplementation Reports for Component Presidents

UT presidents have a base salary and then it gets supplemented. These reports show the base salary plus a supplementation and then give the total salary. Readers should note that this is not their total compensation, which would include bonuses, car allowances, and the like. Even without all the extras, I count three state-supported millionaires in the crowd: Presidents Kaiser, Podolsky, and Mendelsohn.

Supplementation reports for system and components

UT Pan Am only

Jun 22, 2010 11:30:01 AM | Compensation, MD Anderson, UT Southwestern, UT System, UTHSC Houston

04/15/2010

Kaiser'$ Commute: An Unexpected Cost of Climate Change

You'll understand the title when you read the article. Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Kenneth Shine has outdone himself.

Very-long-distance commute questioned

Texas continues to pay for Kaiser's $2,500 a month housing expenses at the Inwood Manor Condominium plus his weekly commutes to Philadelphia. So far, those expenses have exceeded $113,000 and the meter continues to run.

Apr 15, 2010 4:07:00 PM | Compensation, UT System, UTHSC Houston

02/18/2010

KRISTI SANTI V. UTHSC HOUSTON

In this case, an untenured associate professor complained about discrimination and--WHADDYAKNOW?!!!--her contract wasn't renewed and other rotten things ensued. Unfortunately for her, she missed the boat for filing with the EEOC. That particular little ship pulls out after 180 days. An excerpt:

The University employed Santi for approximately five years as a non-tenured associate professor in the Developmental Division of the Department of Pediatrics and as research faculty in the Center for Academics and Reading Skills. On April 14, 2006, she reported a hostile work environment created as a result of gender-related discrimination by her direct supervisor, Barbara Foorman, affording male peer faculty members advantages not allowed to female faculty members.
On June 1, the University informed Santi that it would not renew her contract after August 31, 2006, even though she received the highest possible ranking on her annual faculty reviews. Eleven days after she was told her contract would not be renewed, Santi began negotiations with the University on June 12, 2006 to obtain a license to market and produce derivatives of materials she co-authored or co-produced while employed at the University. The next day, on June 13, Santi filed a formal complaint of discrimination. According to Santi, the negotiations to obtain a license to develop derivative materials proceeded very positively for approximately a week, then communication ceased. On December 20, 2006, the University informed Santi that it would not participate in any licensing agreement.

Click on the highlighted text to read the case.

Readers interested in the Santi case may also be interested in the Klebe and Gentilello cases.

Feb 18, 2010 7:54:40 AM | Faculty mistreatment, Lawsuits, UTHSC Houston

02/10/2010

UT PAYING FOR UTHSC HOUSTON PRESIDENT'S COMMUTING COSTS FROM PA

Now here's some interesting compensation awarded to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston President Larry Kaiser as reported by the Houston Press in a story titled "The President of the UT Health Science Center Finding It Hard to Move Here." An excerpt:

How much does he love Houston? So much that the UT Board of Regents is about to consider an agenda item that will continue paying Kaiser commuting costs from his Pennsylvania home until August 2010.
"For personal reasons, Dr. Kaiser and his family have been unable to permanently move to Houston and hence the extension of this provision of his employment agreement," Dr. Kenneth Shine, UT System executive vice-chancellor for health affairs, tells Hair Balls.
We're pretty sure "personal reasons" means "can't get a good price for his house back east"

The regents got around to actually awarding Kaiser's long-distance commuting costs, by the way. It must be nice to be so needed. . . .

Feb 10, 2010 7:51:14 AM | Compensation, UTHSC Houston

George's Higher Ed Med Shed