USF Health Scores Significant Win With New Orthopedics Program

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jun/13/na-usf-health-scores-significant-win-with-new-orth/?news-opinion-editorials

USF Health Scores Significant Win With New Orthopedics Program

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 13, 2007

The approval of an orthopedics residency program at USF Health is a big deal for three reasons:

First, it sends a signal that our community medical school is committed to growing excellence and attaining national stature - a good thing for our health and well-being, as well as our economy.

Second, the new residency program includes a training segment at the University of South Florida's primary teaching hospital, Tampa General, which wasn't a part of the bid until the 11th hour.

And third, it creates a new-style training program for doctors interested in the musculoskeletal system because it allows them to rotate through various hospitals that specialize in the treatment of children, veterans, cancer patients, trauma victims and the challenges of a general orthopedics practice.

Many people deserve credit for getting this deal done, starting with Dr. Steven Klasko, the vice president of USF Health, who has raised the bar at the medical school since his arrival three years ago.

Klasko knew the medical school couldn't attain prominence without orthopedics, which it lost in 1990 when the faculty walked out over a dispute with a prior dean. The surgeons formed Florida Orthopedics Institute, which today performs about a quarter of the surgeries done at Tampa General.

Determined to restore orthopedics at USF, Klasko last October hired Dr. Robert Pedowitz, a renowned orthopedic surgeon from the University of California San Diego, to become chairman.

And that changed everything.

Before, the surgeons at Tampa General were willing to train orthopedic residents if they - not the medical school - supervised the program. But once USF named an orthopedics chair, it was clear that Klasko was serious about controlling the training program and growing the college's stature.

So when Tampa General refused to join its bid for an orthopedics residency program, the dean solicited other hospital partners - a significant break in tradition. The medical school long has done most of its training at Tampa General, the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and the H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center. Now, because of orthopedics, it will also partner with All Children's, University Community, Lakeland Regional and the Shriner's Hospital for Children.

Because his orthopedics department is new, Klasko knew he faced an uphill battle with the accreditation agency. Without Tampa General's surgeons, he figured he had a 50-50 chance of approval.

So in the days before the deadline, USF President Judy Genshaft and USF Board of Trustees Chairwoman Rhea Law met with Tampa General board chair Hal Mullis and made one last pitch for the greater good.

Tampa General's board is one of the strongest in town. Its members understand that the hospital's success is inextricably tied to the medical school's success. So does hospital administrator Ron Hytoff, who had done his best to strike a compromise.

Hours before the bid was due, Pedowitz, the newcomer, met with Dr. Roy Sanders, the highly successful head of Florida Orthopedics Institute. Together, they worked out a deal that put Tampa General in the bid package. It calls for residents to spend six months of their five-year training program in the hospital's trauma center.

On seeing the complete bid, the accreditation agency approved the residency program.

You might say that Tampa General, which has long held the upper hand, blinked. Certainly, the medical school emerges a stronger partner.

But the real winners are the people of Tampa, who want a medical school that attracts the best and brightest, and a teaching hospital that remains cutting edge and financially healthy.

As the starting pitcher, Klasko deserves to score a win. But the closers in this game - Genshaft, Law, Hytoff, Mullis, Pedowitz and most importantly Sanders - deserve our heartiest congratulations and thanks for doing the right thing for all.