As 2008 approaches, the University of California, Irvine Medical Center still is on the hunt for a permanent chief executive.
“We’re in the middle of it,” said David Bailey, UC Irvine’s vice chancellor for health affairs.
Bailey, who was named to the post in March, oversees UCI Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Orange.
The university is working with Korn Ferry International, an employment search firm, to find a permanent leader.
Maureen Zehntner, the hospital’s chief operating officer, continues as interim chief executive.
One thing’s for certain: Whoever is named to the post will take the helm of one of the county’s largest hospitals, ranked by revenue, beds and patients. For the 12 months through June, UCI had net patient revenue of $501.9 million.
And UCI is close to finishing work on its $427 million New University Hospital. The hospital was about 85% done as of late November and is running ahead of schedule, Bailey said.
“Originally, we were hoping to open in January 2009,” he said. “Now it appears it will be October ’08,it could even be advanced beyond that.”
First Patients: 2009
The hospital expects to see its first patients in early 2009.
New University Hospital is a 482,428-square-foot building with 236 beds and 15 operating rooms.
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. is building the project, the largest of hospital expansions under way in Orange County.
Funding for New University Hospital comes from several sources. The majority, $235 million, comes from state bond money allocated to UCI to get its hospital in line with California’s earthquake law.
California’s earthquake law, passed after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, requires all major general care hospitals to remain standing 72 hours after a major earthquake. Hospitals now have until 2015 to be up to code.
“It is really a treat for me to be here when the new hospital’s coming up,” Bailey said about joining UCI. “I can’t tell you how unusual that is. When most vice chancellors or deans come in, they don’t have this,a brand-new hospital with the ability to expand. So it’s very, very exciting.”
Bailey oversees all of UCI’s health science activities.
Besides the hospital, Bailey also oversees UCI’s University Physicians and Surgeons, a medical group, and the College of Health Sciences, along with serving as dean of the School of Medicine.
At the time of Bailey’s hiring, UCI Chancellor Michael Drake said candidates for the job were “outstanding.”
“David Bailey’s understanding of health sciences, higher education and the University of California system is unparalleled,” Drake said. “There is no one more respected by his peers.”
Bailey reports directly to Drake, who created the position in 2006 in order to centralize health sciences administration at the university. Drake himself is an ophthalmologist who served as vice president of health affairs for the University of California system before coming to UCI.
Transplant Scandal
UCI Medical Center was rocked in late 2005, about a year before Bailey’s hiring, by a liver transplant scandal that led to Ralph Cygan’s resignation as the hospital’s chief executive in January 2006. Cygan remains on the medical school’s faculty.
University officials said in the past that getting Bailey’s job filled had to be done prior to the appointment of a hospital chief executive.
Bailey received his medical degree from Yale University in 1973. A pathologist, he served as chair of the University of California, San Diego’s pathology department for 14 years. He previously was interim vice chancellor for health sciences and interim dean of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
