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Michael Karpf Retires

9/14/2016

52 Comments

 
Once again, for those new to this blog site, at present there are 28 posts on the blog and each has its own set of comments. To read the comments you have to hit the word "Comments" at the beginning or end of the post. Somewhat confusing is that when you bring up the comments for a specific post it eliminates the other posts from the screen. To bring the other posts back up simply go back to the top of the page and click on Blog. Finally, to understand the development of the blog it is best to read it from the bottom post (Dr. Paul Kearney Case) up. One point of note here, to read the earliest posts you have to click on the word "<<Previous" at the very bottom of the posts available.​

Well I thought it was significant enough to deserve a post. Included are Dr. Capilouto's announcement followed Dr. Karpf's eulogy. 


Dear Colleagues and Students,
 
For the last two years, it's in a spirit of partnership and shared ambition for our University and a deep friendship that Dr. Karpf has talked with me about his leadership goals and his professional timeline. I knew his decision to retire was coming, but it does not make it any easier to accept. (Dr. Karpf's message to the UK HealthCare family is below.)
 
Many dream big. Few can turn a big dream into reality.
 
But when President Lee Todd recruited Dr. Mike Karpf nearly 15 years ago, they shared a goal for the Commonwealth. Their far-reaching and ambitious vision was the provision of quality care so that no Kentuckian would have to leave their own backyard for the best health care, no matter the seriousness of your illness, your walk of life, where you live, or your financial circumstance.
 
Today, the numbers – relentlessly driven by Mike Karpf’s compassion and vision – bear witness to our success.
 
During his tenure of 13 years:
  • Discharges from the hospital doubled to 37,789, annually,
  • Patient visits to our clinics grew to 1.5 million, annually,
  • And transfer of patients from other hospitals for subspecialty care astoundingly grew from 1,000 to more than 18,000, annually.
 
But numbers only tell part of the story. They only paint a piece of the picture.
 
For Mike Karpf, these numbers can be gratifying, but he has never been satisfied. There has been – and still is – much work to do and so many to help and heal.
 
Dr. Mike Karpf understands, better than anyone, that behind each transfer to UKHC from hillside hamlet or small community, there were still so many patients who had to leave their communities and families and whose comfort and care would be lost in the distance between their home and Lexington.
Determined to keep loved ones and the sick as close together as possible, Dr. Mike Karpf grew partnerships with hospitals and physicians in 180 clinical locations across the state. 
 
The Markey Cancer Center, the Gill Heart Institute, UK’s Comprehensive Stroke Center, and the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging today have a presence in communities across the Commonwealth through 88 affiliations with partner health care providers.
 
With tireless effort, Dr. Karpf partnered with the state’s providers to bring even better care to Kentucky’s neighborhoods. 
I am convinced that UK HealthCare is the greatest success story in modern academic health center history.
 
This is not grandiosity. The numbers show it. The faces and stories behind those numbers paint an undeniable picture of progress, compassion, and care.
 
Through sheer determination and a brilliance to see far ahead into the future, and, more so, to prepare for it, Mike Karpf has authored a remarkable chapter in the history of UK HealthCare, the University of Kentucky, and the Commonwealth.
How did this happen?
 
So many of you have been with Mike along the way, providing support and assistance.
 
As always, it starts with talent and infrastructure.
 
To best care for Kentucky, Mike Karpf knew he needed even more of both.
 
Undaunted by the great recession, and with the support of President Todd and the Board of Trustees, UK HealthCare launched an ambitious capital plan, totally self-financed without any state funding, that today totals in excess of $1 billion.
 
To meet a rapidly escalating demand for care, the workforce of physicians, nurses, other professional caregivers, staff, and researchers grew from 5,539 to 11,640. The payroll from 2004 to 2016 tripled to nearly $1.05 billion. While never the purpose of this endeavor, one must not overlook the economic impact of the Mike-Karpf-era that produced thousands of construction jobs, new employment opportunities, and tens of millions of dollars in additional state and local taxes.
Mike Karpf grew UK HealthCare. He also helped grow Lexington and our region.
 
Up close, I had the pleasure and honor of watching Mike Karpf work his magic, and I grew to see the “how” that he sustained even when the road got bumpy. It is often said you can endure anything if the “why” – your purpose – is paramount.
 
This purpose is revealed to me in nearly every meeting with Mike Karpf as his cellphone never stops ringing with calls from every corner of the Commonwealth from someone in desperate need of care for themselves or a loved one. 
 
At these frightening and vulnerable times, Mike Karpf heroically and invisibly, quietly and without fanfare, ensures that someone receives the care they need. 
 
He’s done this thousands of times – because that’s who Mike Karpf is. Those are his values. That is how much he cares.

Recently, in a national meeting in Atlanta, I met a hard-working young Kentuckian just beginning to make her way into the world. She shared that in recent months, her mother, battling a terminal disease, had traveled on what could be a final trip to Florida. Unfortunately, she cascaded into an acute medical crisis. 
 
After frustrating and unsuccessful attempts to get her mother home to Lexington, someone got her Mike Karpf’s cell phone number. Taking the call from someone he barely knew, he arranged transport and hospital care where someone very sick was soon surrounded by loved ones.
 
This is the measure of this man – in quiet and profound moments, the moments that matter most to those in need, patients and their families come first.
 
That is the Mike Karpf I know about – far removed from the well-deserved headlines and notice regarding buildings, growth, numbers, and revenues.
 
He cares. He is a healer. And we, as a university family and community, are better because of Mike Karpf’s presence with us.
 
I will have more to say in the coming days about the next steps in the leadership of UK HealthCare.
 
 
Eli Capilouto
President
 

Announcing my plans to step down at the end of the academic year

Next month I will complete my 13th year as Executive Vice President for Health Affairs (EVPHA) at the University of Kentucky. My original mandate was to revitalize the clinical enterprise incorporating both the hospital system and the College of Medicine.  We have made considerable progress, and I feel that the original goals that we established have been achieved.  We have built a strong foundation for UK HealthCare.
 
Consequently, I think it is time for an organized transition to a new leader who has boundless energy to address the challenges of a rapidly evolving health care system. My successor can, with carefully structured and thoughtful growth, continue to assure that UK HealthCare remains essential to the health care delivery system of the Commonwealth and beyond and thereby make it secure for the foreseeable future. 
 
Where we’ve been together
 
In order to develop a common vision for UK HealthCare, we undertook four simultaneous, coordinated, planning processes – strategic, facilities, financial, and academic.  After considerable debate about our clinical strategy, we concluded that on campus we must develop advanced subspecialty care programs comparable to those available at the nation’s very best referral, research-intensive academic medical centers. We wanted Kentuckians to feel assured they could be taken care of in Kentucky regardless of how severe or unusual their medical problems were. They should not have to worry about whether their insurance would allow them to leave the state for care.
 
We recruited outstanding physicians and aggressively built nationally competitive tertiary and quaternary programs that have grown dramatically both in volume and quality. Today, in my opinion, we truly are a comprehensive referral academic medical center comparable to the best in the country.
 
While focusing on advanced subspecialty care on campus, we also understood we needed to develop strong “win-win” relationships with appropriate community providers.  We felt if we made these providers more secure by expanding and improving the services they offered, they would then consider referring patients beyond their capabilities to UK HealthCare. The culmination of these efforts has been the launching of the Kentucky Health Collaborative, 10 major systems in Kentucky comprising more than 50 hospitals working together to deliver value-based care – producing the best outcomes at the highest level of efficiency.
 
Our clinical strategy has been successful. We have almost doubled patient discharges for the hospital system over the last 13 years. Our outpatient activity has grown dramatically, now exceeding 1.5 million outpatient encounters per year. 
 
More important, in 2003, we accommodated 1,000 transfers from other facilities; in 2016, we received over 18,000 transfers from other providers and because of capacity limits we are working to address, we still had to turn away a substantial number of patients. We have become the critical linchpin of the health care system of Kentucky, taking care of patients other providers cannot effectively manage. Consequently, we have become essential to the integrity of the health care delivery system of the entire Commonwealth and this essentiality is what offers us security through turbulent times.
 
From a facilities planning perspective, we recognized that we would need new capabilities to accommodate the complex patients being targeted. This led to a commitment to develop a replacement hospital, now known as Chandler Hospital Pavilion A. When we finish the projects covered by the $150 million bond issuance our Board of Trustees approved in June, Pavilion A will be more than 96 percent complete. 
 
Although Pavilion A is as technologically advanced as any hospital in the country, it is also an exceptionally empathetic facility – comfortable and comforting for our patients, their families, visitors, and, just as important, for our faculty and staff. We will also have refurbished/repurposed four of the seven floors in Pavilion HA (Kentucky Children’s Hospital). Over the next 18 months we will finally have a state-of-the-art neonatal ICU (NICU) that appropriately supports a superb NICU staff and faculty. A new entryway into Kentucky Children’s Hospital will also allow us to develop critical support space for the families of pediatric patients. 
 
I have very much enjoyed my involvement in the music and art programs, as well as the approaches to architecture and landscaping that make our facility a very special place. I am truly grateful for that experience.
 
Financially we have done very well. Over the last 13 years we have invested close to $2 billion for faculty recruitment, program development, technology acquisition, and bricks and mortar. Our bottom lines have been appropriately and necessarily strong. Our balance sheet continues in excellent shape. The next generation of leaders will have to continue to demand strong financial performances in order to generate the required resources necessary to invest in people, programs, technology, and facilities to sustain and continue our progress and success.
 
The College of Medicine has become substantially stronger and flourished as the clinical enterprise has expanded. Our training programs are in excellent shape and the research profile for the College of Medicine has improved and continues to improve. The fate and finances of the College of Medicine and the clinical enterprise are inextricably intertwined. 
 
What lies ahead for UK HealthCare?
 
Much has been accomplished in the past 13 years, and we have built a strong foundation. However, much remains for the next generation of leaders to do. They must continue to enhance the quality of our subspecialty programs by ongoing recruitment of outstanding faculty and staff, supporting them with appropriate technology and facilities.
 
Future leaders will need to continue to strengthen relationships with our partners and mature the Kentucky Health Collaborative into an effective entity that can serve the Commonwealth and beyond to provide value-based care.
 
Most importantly, future leadership will need to anticipate and respond to a changing health care system. The push for value based reimbursement which demands the highest quality of care delivered at the most cost efficient will go unabated. Consequently, UK HealthCare must understand how it provides services today and how it needs to provide services in the future both on campus and in coordination with its partnering organizations and physicians.

UK HealthCare must be engaged in – and should lead – the change process to help develop a “rational system of care for Kentucky,” that addresses future reimbursement approaches. Therefore, developing systems for medical management that gather data and turn that data into meaningful information that can be used to change the clinical practices of providers, both on campus and in conjunction with our partners, will be the biggest challenge for future leaders.
 
Time for careful, thoughtful leadership transition
 
In my opinion, I have successfully completed my anticipated contributions to the University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare. Now it is time for a careful and thoughtful transition to new leadership. For the future, we need an EVPHA who relishes addressing the changes necessary to survive and thrive in the new world of health care on the horizon. I have informed President Capilouto that I would like to relinquish my responsibilities as EVPHA by the end of this academic year, or earlier, if a suitable replacement can be identified and in place.
 
These 13 years have been challenging but immensely rewarding to me personally. I respect the colleagues with whom I have worked, especially the faculty and staff in UK HealthCare and cherish the wonderful friends that Ellen and I have made here in Lexington. We have tried to be active in the community and we have been rewarded having been embraced by it. Consequently, we will be staying in Lexington, although spending more time in Wyoming and Los Angeles with family and friends.
 
I plan to transition to a part-time faculty position working on health service and health policy issues. I also hope to help strengthen health services research in all its aspects at the University, as it is important to the Commonwealth and country that we fully understand how the organization, finance, and delivery of care affects the health and well-being of our people.

I want to stay involved in the art, music and humanities program that makes UK HealthCare a very special place for all. I hope to be able to help develop the resources that can sustain these programs for the long haul. I also hope to be able to stay available to help make UK HealthCare accessible to the community, the Commonwealth and beyond.
 
I originally told Ellen that we would spend three to five years in Lexington to see if my ideas had any validity or practicality. Instead, we found a home for the duration and colleagues and friends for a lifetime.
 
With gratitude and great regard, 
 
Michael Karpf, MD
Executive VP for Health Affairs
52 Comments
Dan Noonan
9/14/2016 04:00:25 pm

I thought I would transfer over this comment and The Mole's comment from the previous post just to get us started.

I hear it is official now. Dr. Karpf will retire in June of next year. I believe many posts ago The Mole predicted this. I am wondering what the committee for recruiting the new hospital leader will be composed of? Do you think they might be looking for a non-MD businessman type ? There is a rumor going around that they are talking about making the med school part of the university and separating the hospital business from the university. This would be unfortunate for the university if it ever happened.

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The Mole
9/14/2016 04:03:05 pm

Of course there won't be a committee. This will be done by Capilouto and the BOT working with a search firm. I doubt anyone will even know who the candidates are until the winner is unveiled.

The separation of UKHC from UK and the COM may be an unintended consequence of all of this scandalmongering/open records enthusiasm.

The people who need to worry are all of the high level "administrators" who might end up being replaced by the new boss.

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Stujoy
9/14/2016 05:30:25 pm

"The people who need to worry are all of the high level "administrators" who might end up being replaced by the new boss."

That would be the best news of all of this especially if it results in a new chief administrative officer

Norm
9/15/2016 01:48:39 am

Well if they are thinking of separating the med school from the hospital, I hope they do not use U of L as their template. That would be a mistake.

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Bill
9/14/2016 04:17:40 pm

You know I had to get hip boots to wade through all of this post. I think I need a bath. All I can say is goodbye, adios, aloha, arrivederci, ciao, auf Wiedersehen, au revoir, sayonara, shalom, totsiens, vale, and Zàijiàn. Did I miss anyone?

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BJ
9/14/2016 06:06:16 pm

Yeh, you missed good riddance.

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Stujoy
9/14/2016 06:09:17 pm

yeah, good riddance to the guy who spearheaded the development of a mediocre medical center into a regional referral center.

Don't let facts get in the way of your ignorant opinions

BJ
9/15/2016 02:08:59 am

Sorry I slighted your hero there Stujoy. I am fully aware of what Karpf has accomplished at UKHC, but I am also fully aware of the price. The massive debt and the measures that have been implemented to pay that debt are the primary factors for this worst rating in the Price Gainey survey. Talented physicians leaving, RVU priorities, jacked up medical costs and staff cuts that impact service are also part of Karpf's contributions to UKHC. Interestingly neither he no Cappy mentioned these in their eulogies. So yes, good riddance. It is time for a change, hopefully for the better.

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Da Illest
9/15/2016 03:37:42 am

Let's have a moment of silence for the residents and fellows who were the slave labor used to get UK hospital from where they were to where they are now. I see they were again forgotten and left out of UK's braggadocios statement. Karpf might have been at the helm but the residents and fellows were miserable during these years often with unsafe and substandard working conditions.

Dan Noonan
9/15/2016 09:37:33 am

Thanks for the comment Da Illist. I agree.

Rosie
9/14/2016 05:59:20 pm

My dad always said to me, Rosie, it's not where you have gone, but how you got there. Personally, I have trouble believing that this thought ever entered the mind of these folks.

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Spoon Snake
9/16/2016 09:08:42 am

Not sure if the arrangements for house staff at UK/UKHC are really any different from those at other academic medical centers that have accredited residency and fellowship programs. Can someone provide more specific details about what was unsafe or substandard? This criticism may be a little unfair.

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Dan Noonan
9/16/2016 01:27:24 pm

Thanks Spoon Snake for your comment. I am not sure what you are referring to here? This appears to be a response to Rosie's comment above, which has nothing to do with house staff. Are you referring to the residents and fellows statement by Da Illest? I can only guess that Da Illest is speaking from personal experience and I have always felt personal experience supersedes anything I can critique.

Da Illest
9/16/2016 01:46:39 pm

We're you a resident or fellow there? If not then you can't comment.

I could provide numerous specific examples but will not as honestly I don't want to be dragged into it. But suffice to say as just a single general example if you go from 1,000 to 18,000 transfers a year you would need to have a massive increase in the staff and support of that staff to keep providing the same level of care.

Do you think this was done? I think we all know that answer.

Spoon Snake
9/16/2016 03:33:35 pm

Yes, of course I was referring to the comment about house staff.

Dan- are you seriously saying that you don't feel qualified to critique things outside your personal experience? Like being president of a university or running a public university healthcare enterprise?

Daillest- In the division that I hold my appointment in I do not think any of the fellows have been overworked or mistreated. But this is a very selective specialty that generates a lot of income for the hospital so we can recruit very competent and motivated fellows and Karpf has been willing to pay for the number of faculty and fellows that are needed to make sure the operation runs effectively. Presumably this was not the case for whatever service you trained on. I wonder what that was?

Dan Noonan
9/17/2016 02:10:22 am

Thanks for your comment Spoon Snake. In this case I was simply attempting to understand where your comment was being directed. Your post was confusing in that it was incorrectly responding to the wrong comment. I feel very qualified to critique both Dr. Capilouto and Dr. Karpf’s accomplishments over the time they have been here, because I was here before they were, have served on the university senate, the CoM faculty council and served as co-director of the Integrated Biomedical Sciences program in the College of Medicine. In reference to the question, I have never served as a resident or fellow and therefore I chose to defer to the Da Illest’s experiences in this area. Finally, I note that you appear to be speaking for the fellows in your division. Sounds like everything is just merry in your division. I am guessing that the people in your division must have score well in the Press Gainey Survey.

Dan Noonan
9/17/2016 02:39:41 am

Sorry about that, it was a long day and I should not work on the blog after a long day. Lesson learned, hopefully.

Dan Noonan
9/15/2016 02:41:24 am

Lots of action I see. Thanks to all of the commenters. I have to go do the retirement thing and play golf. Please play nice nice with your comments. How about contemplating what you might like to see in the Karpf replacement, changes you might like to see in the running of UKHC and solutions for such problems mentioned above.

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The Mole
9/15/2016 06:00:20 am

I think this is a brilliant move by Karpf. Having determined that there isn't anyone at UK who can run UKHC he has basically challenged Capilouto and the BOT to find someone to replace him. I wonder how much he will get paid during his sabbatical and after he returns to the faculty?

Of course the BOT/Capilouto could go for the dream team of Lachin Hatemi as EVPA, Noonan as Dean of the COM and Kearney could be COO of the hospital. The blog could be expanded to contain real time information about all of UKHCs records and all of the decisions could be made after consultation with the posters.

I think there is at least a 50% chance that Karpf will still be EVPA in a years time.

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Dan Noonan
9/15/2016 09:39:48 am

Thanks for the comment The Mole. I like your suggestions; unfortunately I am booked for the next few years. Personally, I would be willing to bet that they already have a short list for Dr. Karpf’s replacement. His planned retirement was probably established over a year ago and a small select group has since been looking at prospects, perhaps even put out feelers.

Beyond the BS, If you were on the search committee what would you be looking for in a new EVPHA, and what changes if any would you like to see implemented under the new leadership? I personally have my own thoughts on this, but I am both not a physician and not working at the university anymore. Here is an opportunity for anybody to anonymously speak up without retribution. I would gladly send this information on to the powers that be.

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The Mole
9/15/2016 11:57:06 am

I don't view Mike Karpf as being a disaster so what I would like to see is someone with his skills in "big picture" management of the healthcare enterprise but with a lot better judgment when it comes to selection of his lower level operatives. Ideally I would want a much greater focus on the academic mission so that individuals at the chair/chief level can balance the money making mission with the need to provide training, education and research commensurate with our mission as a public research university. Right now the former has been emphasized over the latter.

If they do have a person or persons lined up to replace Karpf then its a very well kept secret. I do know that Karpf vetoed someone that Capilouto wanted to bring in from UAB a while back. This is something the BOT and Capilouto need to get right because if it goes wrong then the consequences will be major. In other words, do we get Bille Gillispie (remember him) or Cal?

Dan Noonan
9/15/2016 02:40:20 pm

Thanks The Mole for your comment and your take on what you would like to see a search committee look for in the the new EVPHA . Believe it or not, I agree with you completely. Thanks for taking the time to once again add to the blog.

The Mole
9/15/2016 06:11:45 am

I wonder if Paul Kearney is allowed to attend this?

Dear Faculty, we are delighted to invite you to one of the university’s activities to celebrate Constitution Day. On Monday at 3:00 pm, the University Senate and the Constitution Planning committee will host Dr. Scott Bauries, UK College of Law, and Dr. John R. Thelin, UK College of Education, in a presentation titled “Faculty Speech and Academic Freedom.” The event will be held in the W.T. Young Library UKAA Auditorium. Please join us for this presentation and the reception following the conversation in the Gallery Room adjacent to the Auditorium. We have included an informational flyer for your convenience. Please feel free to disseminate the flyer and share information about this important event. For more information about the day’s events please visit www.uky.edu/UGE/constitution-day. If you have any further questions, please contact our office. I look forward to seeing you on the 12th!

Katherine M. McCormick, Ph.D.
University Senate Council Chair
James W. & Diane V. Stuckert Endowed
Professor of Service-Learning &
Professor of Interdisciplinary
Early Childhood Education
201 Main Building
859.257.9573 or 859.218.4014

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Dan Noonan
9/15/2016 09:41:48 am

Thanks for the comment The Mole. I guess when you come out of retirement you do it in a big way. I suppose because he is a university senator Dr. Kearney would be eligible for attendance at this presentation. I think it is interesting that they have someone from UK College of Law presenting. I am a bit disappointed it is not our General Council Professor/Adjunct Instructor Thro.

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The Mole
9/15/2016 12:00:48 pm

I will re-retire now. The Karpf news was just too good not to share.

Da Illest
9/16/2016 02:18:41 am

UCLA redux. Remember in 1993 when a certain administrator left UCLA in the nick of time amidst controversy? I do. Seems a certain one Michael Karpf has a penchant for getting out right before the bottom falls out. I see his retirement as a potential sign of bad things to come for UK Healthcare. He has a history of bailing when the going gets tough from the mess he has made and I view the KMSF troubles, the Kearney issues, the open records lawsuits, the awful Press Ganey scores, etc as the current mess that he is basically running away from before it engulfs him.

Smart man in a sense.

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/sep/03/local/me-ucla3

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Spoon Snake
9/16/2016 09:13:45 am

Except that the bottom didn't fall out at UCLA and its managed to maintain its stature as one of the nations top academic medical centers. The problem with UCLA was that the faculty didn't want to go along with Karpf's money making first/ academic and scholarly activities last approach. Thats why UK was perfect for him- absolutely no academic push back.

Surely you must all realise that pre-Karpf UKHC was solidly in the crapper and would have ended up either folding or being taken over by a private healthcare business (like UofL was).

I know you hate Mike Karpf but you have to acknowledge things have been accomplished, even if these were not the things you wanted and not everything has been done the way you wanted it to be done.

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Dan Noonan
9/16/2016 01:16:51 pm

Thank you Spoon Snake for your comment. Dr. Karpf left UCLA when the hospital, under his leadership, began experiencing “wobbly finances and internal dissension”. Yes the UCLA hospital has rebounded well since then, but of course that was under new leadership. I think Dr. Karpf’s retirement is way overdue. I would be willing to bet that if you polled the physicians and staff of the hospital as to whether they are sad that Dr. Karpf is retiring, the vast majority would say no. As I pointed out above, although Dr. Karpf has brought us to where we are now, it has been at a price. The Mole sees Dr. Karpf as someone with very good “big picture” skills but not very skilled at hiring the best administrators for implementing this “big picture”. My tendency is to believe Dr. Karpf has “big picture” skills but very little understanding of the work, time, and cost involved in the implementation of this “big picture”. This leads to things like big debt, bending rules, cutting corners, reducing staff, money manipulation, pushing RVUs, charging facility fees, overworking physicians, overworking fellows and residents, people leaving, a complete loss of morale and a need for secrecy.

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Da Illest
9/16/2016 01:36:59 pm

I agree with you that UCLA didn't have the bottom fall out but that was only because Karpf left and definitely didn't "maintain its stature" because of him. Had he stayed the bottom most certainly would have fallen out or he would have been pushed out the door. He saw what was coming either way and was smart enough to leave as I said above. He built a new hospital at UCLA that went way over budget and nearly bankrupt them. Specifically UCLA Medical Center's 525-bed hospital ran $230 million over the original $600 million price tag.

Look, he's done some great things for UK Healthcare. But I agree they have come at a huge price... see the "mess" I referenced above.

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Crack Fox
9/19/2016 10:34:35 am

http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article102718992.html

I think a lot of Mike Karpf/UKHCs "success" is down to rank incompetence from the local competition.

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Bill
9/21/2016 03:23:45 am

I just want to state that I am tiring of these KMSF promos. Is it not clear to everyone that they are attempting to wipe the dirt off their image by these tactics? I really do not care how many unauthorized so called good things KMSF and its top executives have done with revenue earned at our public university hospital. My concern is still, and I have yet to hear one good reason for this, “why do they feel they have a right to keep this secret, or even why it is necessary to keep their actions and use of this university revenue secret?” I do not think it unrelated that practically all (with perhaps Zwish being the exception) of the former top people in both the KMSF scam and the Kearney vendetta have now fled the scene of the crime. The hospital and KMSF’s future may be to do something similar to what The Mole suggested, and that is to use this fiasco as an avenue to separate the hospital from the university, but that has not happened and at the present both the hospital and KMSF have been designated as part of this public institution. Being that, they are required to follow the laws of publicly owned institutions. Furthermore, if they should contrive a formula for taking the hospital out of the hands of this public institution they should be required to both remove the University of Kentucky from their name and rebuild their hospital on private property. Of course this would leave both the uninsured and under-insured citizens of this state nowhere to go for medical treatment, but what do they care as long as they retain their private jets, their inflated executive salaries and of course their secret bonuses.

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Jim Jones
9/21/2016 04:22:19 am

Bill, Bill, Bill come over here and drink of this Kool-Aid and all will become clear.

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Spoon Snake
9/21/2016 04:10:26 am

Sometimes I wonder if there are only about 3 different people posting here, each with 3-5 different names...

It would be very surprising if the Governor and/or State Government decide to take control of UKHC because its making too much money. And what exactly do you mean by "unauthorized"? What mechanism do you propose to enable the "authorization" of the operation of UKHC other than those that already exist?

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Jim Jones
9/21/2016 04:35:02 am

Ooooooh, see what the Kool-Aid could be doing for you Bill.

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Bill
9/21/2016 11:58:53 am

Well let’s see, KMSF functioning outside the authority of the UK Board of Trustees, and therefore outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky Model Procurement Laws, using hospital revenue to authorize private jets, Keeneland membership for the EVPHA, donations to the Iroquois Hunt Club, manipulation of RCTF funds, building constructions and who knows what else, seems to me to be a situation one might interpret as “unauthorized”. It is not a question of whether these actions were good or good intentioned; it is simply the fact that they were not within the authority of KMSF. As has been noted multiple times, the University of Kentucky formed KMSF in 1978 for the express purpose of paying doctors competitive salaries through salary supplementation and bonuses. It was never designed to be independent of the university’s authority as is clearly expressed by having it’s Board composed of College of Medicine faculty. It wasn’t until people like Dan Ross and Paul Kearney began questioning this authority that this contrived effort to claim independence ever surfaced. This of course resulted in the Dan Ross firing, the Paul Kearney vendetta and the hospital and KMSF leaders either leaving or running for cover. Now we have this ongoing propaganda campaign to convince everyone that KMSF deserves sainthood for its past activities, and therefore should be allowed to secretly handle the University of Kentucky hospital revenue without university oversight. Sorry Jim Jones, but I'm just not interested in drinking this Kool-Aid.

As far as a mechanism for authorization, why not UK BoT approval for these types of financial transactions and investments being made by KMSF. They do have a Healthcare Committee if I remember correctly. Internal auditing might also be useful, because I think this was outsourced shortly after the UK internal auditor Dan Ross reported misuse of funds by KMSF. Finally, I would not be surprised to hear a number of these activities were never even discussed in the KMSF Board meetings. Finally, making KMSF obey open records laws can only improve the transparency and approval process being used.

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Dan Noonan
9/21/2016 04:39:16 am

Thanks for the comments Bill, Jim Jones and Spoon Snake. Please play nice on the blog while I head out and do that retirement thingy again.

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Spoon Snake
9/21/2016 09:03:47 am

Genius move from Cappy- getting faculty job candidates to self report their records of sexual harassment and research misconduct. What could possibly go wrong.

Students and Colleagues,

Last Monday, in a meeting with the University Senate, we began the necessary dialogue about how we find additional ways to safeguard our students and each other by doing everything we can to prevent sexual assault and harassment.

The most pressing issue before us is the welfare of victim survivors – students, faculty or staff – who have been subjected to sexual violence and harassment. Our data shows that only one out of five student victim survivors is able to bring themselves to report an incidence of sexual assault.

Why don’t 80 percent of them report – the desire for privacy, the overwhelming feeling of shame, retribution, or the understandable desire to forget.

And they fear the long-term repercussions of coming forward for their personal lives and their professional careers.

Under Title IX, our legal responsibility to victim survivors is clear:

--Stop the harassment
--Remedy the effects on the victim survivor
--Prevent the harassment from recurring

We are fulfilling these responsibilities through the dedicated and professional work of our Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Center, our Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity, our Police Department, and our Office of Student and Academic Life. We all should take justifiable pride in their hard work in this wrenching environment.

But there is more to do. Together, as faculty, staff, and administrators, we have a window of opportunity to enact reforms to our system that will better protect our students, staff, faculty, and visitors. In doing so, we can help lead on a critical issue confronting institutions of higher learning across the country.

Over the next few months, working with faculty and staff leaders, including the University and Staff senates – and gathering input from across our campus and with our Board of Trustees – we aim to reach a consensus for action around three points:

· Training for graduate students and their mentors to help everyone understand the appropriate dynamics of that critical relationship better. The Provost already has begun examining options for how best to implement this initiative.

· Requiring anyone who is interested in joining our faculty to complete a questionnaire regarding their past relating to sexual misconduct and research misconduct. Today, for example, there is a higher standard in the Southeastern Conference for the acceptance of transfer student-athletes at an institution in this area than there is for the hiring of faculty. That’s unacceptable.

· Establishing a specific and timely process for reviewing the appropriateness of faculty continuing in tenured and other faculty positions when there are clear examples of sexual misconduct. Tenure is an essential mechanism for ensuring academic and research freedom. But academic freedom is not at risk in these cases; the welfare of our students and other victims is. Due process for both the accused and the accuser is critically important in all cases, but we should be diligent in reviewing the propriety of someone remaining a member of our community.


We can take steps to address these gaps. We believe these common-sense reforms can be done in a spirit of collaboration.

As we move forward, we will be seeking input from across the campus while working to keep our campus informed as we make progress toward creating a safer and more inclusive campus community.

Thank you for your commitment to making that community a reality for everyone who calls UK home.


Eli Capilouto
President

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Dan Noonan
9/21/2016 02:18:26 pm

Thanks for your comments Bill and Spoon Snake. Bill, I too would like to see transparency at KMSF. I can't see where it would hurt.

Spoon Snake, thanks for adding this Capilouto update on sexual harassment measures being taken. I suspect the sex offender disclosure will be buried in the contract somewhere after an offer has been made. This does appear to be progress though. It is definitely better than the current policy which includes NDAs to sex offenders and suing anyone who exposes a sex offender at the university. It almost looks like Capilouto or his lawyers might be monitoring the blog comments, because some of these measures being taken look very familiar.

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Tony Harrison
9/21/2016 01:52:11 pm

Probably the requirement to fill out cappy's questionnaire will come with a warning that providing willfully incomplete or untruthful information would be grounds for dismissal including revocation of tenure. So it might provide a conduit for the speedy revocation of tenure option that he mentions later in his email.

I work at UK but have a part time salaried appointment at the VAMC and this information is required along with acknowledgment that misrepresentation to the government is a federal crime. And of course they fingerprint you and have law enforcement do some sort of a background check.

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Dan Noonan
9/21/2016 02:20:06 pm

Thanks for the comment Tony Harrison. Sounds logical to me.

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DD
9/22/2016 05:04:02 am

Related to Spoon's comment, I was wondering how many people actually visit this blog? I feel certain these Weebly folks must provide that kind of information. Another question, can you connect this blog to social media? I know I occasionally see references to other blog sites popping up on my Facebook page.

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Dan Noonan
9/22/2016 05:30:11 am

Thanks for your comment DD. Yes, Weebly provides a number of statistics including the number of visitors to your site per day and per month, plus other information like top pages viewed per month, search terms used to access the blog and referring sites. For example, yesterday we had 197 visitors to the site and so far this month we have had 3,644 visitors to the blog. Yes you can connect the blog to social media and when you create a new post and get ready to publish it they provide direct links for sharing the news on places like Facebook and Twitter. Thus far I have choosen not to.

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Spoon Snake
9/22/2016 11:24:00 am

Do you get to see the IP addresses of people posting to the blog? That information would quickly reveal if some individuals are posting with different names...

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Dan Noonan
9/22/2016 12:42:06 pm

Thanks for the comment Spoon Snake. Yes they appear to provide an IP address, but not being a computer person they mean nothing to me. I actually had to Google this when you asked the question. If I read it right an IP address identifies an apparatus being used and not necessarily a person. So if a person uses multiple computers or whatnot to post comments it would be hard to identify that person. The site does allow me to mark comments that I feel are spam, and I can only guess they use this IP address to delete these in future postings.

Believe it or not, I feel this blog thing only works if I fully respect the privacy of those who may wish to post comments. Some may come in with different names, but as long as they are informative and not abusive in their comments I could care less.

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Spoon Snake
9/22/2016 02:08:35 pm

So if you don't know what an IP address is then I assume you are also unfamiliar with the concept of internet "trolling". I think there may have been some of this sort of thing going on here, at least in some of your earlier threads.

In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion,[3] often for their own amusement.

Dan Noonan
9/22/2016 03:01:31 pm

Thanks for your comment Spoon Snake. You may be correct, and this is one of the reasons I choose not to involve social media. It may be hard to believe, but I am a big fan of UK and especially the College of Medicine. It was a great place to work and I still have friends there. My intent with the blog is not a witch hunt but rather an attempt to right what I believe to be a wrong and by doing so hopefully improve the deteriorating working environment in the CoM. Some may not like my approach or feel that I am causing more trouble than curing, but I have always believed that sweeping things under the rug only puts off the inevitable, and that we must acknowledge our mistakes before we can fix them.

Originally I had the blog simply open to comments, but when comments or commenters began posting inflammatory and totally non-constructive comments I added this approval option. It is more work for me, but it helps a little to keep the blog on target.

Spoon Snake
9/23/2016 09:19:39 am

So what if anything is happening with the Kearney Case? Is it actually going to go to trial? Or is it somehow entwined with the ongoing open records cases?

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Dan Noonan
9/23/2016 01:00:55 pm

Thanks for the comment Spoon Snake. I believe they are still taking depositions with respect to this Whistleblower case. I have a little info and am checking on updates. If there is enough I will create a new post. This comment section appears to be getting a little long and old and it would be nice to get back to the original topic of discussion.

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Spoon Snake
9/23/2016 01:37:59 pm

Interesting stuff. In order to prove that Kearney was fired for "whistleblowing" is it necessary to actually identify specifically what he was blowing the whistle about and to determine if the whistleblowing was valid? Or will the general "misuse of KMSF funds" allegation hold water? Yes, it would be good to get back to the good old Kearney case!

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Dan Noonan
9/23/2016 03:49:28 pm

Thanks again for the comment Spoon Snake. I know really nothing about what is necessary for establishing a Whistleblower case. I can only guess that if the accused can provide strong evidence that the disciplinary actions taken against him/her are related to some retaliation for his/her attempts to expose a wrongdoing, then it can be categorized as a Whistleblower case. In Dr. Kearney's scenario I would guess this would be related to his documented inquiries into KMSF money management and the university's subsequent attempts to get rid of him. What I am guessing is going on now is the gathering of information through depositions and interrogatories. I have seen a copy of some of the interrogatories, and I believe a number of the senior administrators involved in the case have been or will be officially deposed with respect to claims they have made or their role in the whole process. My guess is because Dr. Kearney's chastisement (some have called a threat) by the EVPHA for suggesting an investigation into KMSF money management is an established fact, what he now needs to establish is that the recent actions to get rid of him are unjustified. I do not think it a coincidence that many of the top administrators that initiated the actions to drive Dr. Kearney out of the university are themselves leaving the university. I personally think in spite of that, there is significant evidence for the disregard of many university regulations in the prosecution of Dr. Kearney and perhaps even falsified information. But then again, I know the university has many friends in high places, so it will be interesting to see exactly what happens.

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Legal Eagle
9/24/2016 07:51:25 am

If UK loses in the circuit court they will just appeal the case to the state supreme court so the whole thing will drag on for a lot longer.

Although I am not aware of any similar cases in KY this recently decided California case clearly upheld a claim of whistleblower retaliation by a physician who lost his clinical privileges. However, in this case patient care was at issue, not the money management concerns that are at issue here.

http://californiahealthline.org/news/ruling-in-physician-whistleblower-case-could-have-farreaching-consequences/

Dan Noonan
9/24/2016 12:15:34 pm

Thanks Legal Eagle for this comment and information.


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