When Kansas State Treasurer Dennis McKinney was visiting the KU Medical Center campus last week, he was asked about the budget crisis in Kansas. McKinney said he was optimistic that the state’s economy would start turning around by next summer. But he added that the state was in for a rough patch in the meantime.
I certainly hope Treasurer McKinney is right about the former, but I think we all know he is correct about the latter. Despite some signs that the national economy is emerging from the recession, we are still experiencing tough times here in Kansas. The latest projections from the state budget office show a $722 million shortfall for FY 2010 and FY 2011.
What does this mean for KU Medical Center? Governor Mark Parkinson may make additional cuts to the FY 2010 budget, but how those cuts could impact higher education is unknown. If we are ordered to make additional cuts, staff furloughs are a possibility. While furloughs are a last resort, a committee has been studying the most equitable method of implementing furloughs, should that become necessary.
Other unknowns are whether federal stimulus dollars will be available in FY 2011 and whether NIH will have additional grant dollars to award in the next few years.
What we do know is that the administration here will continue to be transparent as we navigate through this crisis, and we will keep our employees informed every step of the way. We have made tremendous progress as an academic medical center over the past several years. This budget crisis may have slowed down that progress somewhat, but it will not stop us. I am confident we will get through this together and continue advancing toward our goals.
Kansas State Treasurer Dennis McKinney toured KU Medical Center's General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) on Nov. 10. McKinney, shown here with Rosemary Myles, MS, RCEP, an exercise physiologist at KUMC, said he was extremely impressed with the work going on at the GCRC.
In the News
Former University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway’s name will grace KUMC's Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center. The Kansas Board of Regents today approved naming the three-year-old, $57.2 million center for Hemenway, who served as KU’s 16th chancellor from 1995 until June 30, 2009. Details here.
The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation has published a five-year status report on the Time to Get it Right. The original report, published in 2004, was a blueprint for improving the region's higher education and making the area a hub for life sciences. The five-year status report has praise for the advances KU Medical Center has made toward NCI designation and our progress toward becoming a top-50 academic medical center. But it also said that more money needs to be invested in higher education in the region. You can read the entire report here.
Lowell L. Tilzer, MD, PhD, has been named permanent chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at KU Medical Center. Dr. Tilzer has been serving as interim chair since May 15, 2009. Dr. Tilzer has been on the faculty of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the KU School of Medicine since 1978. I know his outstanding leadership and expertise will energize our Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Community
Our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to this year's KUMC/University of Kansas Physicians United Way drive. Thanks to your generosity, we met our goal of $88,000 and, even in these tough economic times, exceeded the total we raised last year. Thank you again for helping make our community a better place to work and live!
KUMC's Holiday Giving Program, sponsored by the Office of Public Affairs, kicks off this week. More than 450 children from Project EAGLE have created holiday wish lists this year. You can browse the wish lists online and adopt a child or an entire family for the holidays. Return your unwrapped gifts to the HR conference room located at 1038 Delp. Drop-off dates are December 7th, 8th and 11th between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. To look at the online wish lists, visit the Holiday Giving Program Web site. For more information about the program, contact Paula Baum at 8-1017.
Community
Two Wichita family medicine residents are among 10 physicians nationwide to win excellence awards in graduate medical education. Lacie Gregory, MD, and Melissa Chenoweth, MD, both received the American Academy of Family Physicians/Bristol Myers Squibb award. Read more.