The University of California, Irvine, on Thursday named David Bailey its vice chancellor for health affairs, effective April 1.
Bailey now is interim vice chancellor for health sciences and interim dean of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
He will oversee the UC Irvine’s health sciences activities, including UCI Medical Center, UC Irvine University Physicians and Surgeons and the College of Health Sciences, as well as serving as dean of the School of Medicine.
Candidates for the job were “outstanding,” said Chancellor Michael Drake in a statement.
“However, David Bailey’s understanding of health sciences, higher education and the University of California system is unparalleled. There is no one more respected by his peers,” Drake said.
Bailey will report directly to Drake, who created the position earlier this year in order to centralize health sciences administration at the university.
Bailey’s responsibilities also will include selecting a permanent chief executive for UCI Medical Center, which was rocked in late 2005 by a liver transplant scandal that led to Ralph Cygan stepping down as the hospital’s chief executive in January.
University officials have said that getting the vice chancellor job filled had to be done before the UCI Medical chief job was filled.
Bailey received his medical degree from Yale University in 1973. A pathologist, he was chair of University of California, San Diego’s pathology department for 14 years.
