Why would a university renowned for its school of medicine ever sell its teaching hospital? In his newest book, Dr. John A. Kastor presents an insider’s view of why university medical centers decide to sell teaching hospitals, why the decision might be a good one, and how such transitions are received by the faculty and administration.
Kastor tells the story of two universities that, under financial duress for more than a decade, chose to sell their teaching hospitals. George Washington University sold to a national, for-profit corporation, Universal Health Services, Inc., and Georgetown University sold to a not-for-profit, local company, MedStar Health. Through interviews with key players involved in and affected by these decisions, Kastor examines the advantages and disadvantages of selling and describes the problems that can afflict medical schools that separate from their faculty practice plans. For the current leaders of medical schools facing similar financial challenges, Kastor analyzes how much it costs to teach clinical medicine and offers valuable advice on how to reduce expenses and increase surpluses.
The Johns Hopkins University Press
— John T. Potts
Dr. Kastor presents an insider's view.
— Pascal James Imperato, MD
— Hector O. Ventura, MD
The book raises questions about the future of all academic medical centers.
Kastor's analyses are valuable not only because of his own experiences as a former chair of a department of medicine in an academic medical center, but also because of the candor he provokes in his interviews with hundreds of physicians, administrators, and hospital and university leaders... This volume should be essential reading for leaders of academic medical centers.
An excellent book, well informed and especially readable... The author has written a captivating story that will become a classic in the contemporary history of US health care for many years to come.
Selling Teaching Hospitals and Practice Plans joins John Kastor's three other excellent volumes in a series that uniquely documents how the vast changes in the U.S. health care system have led to the restructuring of leading American academic medical centers. Like its predecessors, it is superbly researched, well organized, and an engaging read. It is must reading for all those involved in health care, hospital administration, and medical education.
1 Washington and its academic medical centers 1
2 George Washington University : selling the hospital 5
3 George Washington University : separating the practice plan 23
4 George Washington University : closing the HMO 44
5 George Washington University and its medical school 49
6 Georgetown University : selling the hospital 80
7 Georgetown University : selling the practice plan 108
8 Georgetown University and its medical school 128
9 MedStar Health 146
10 Conclusions 171
App. A Other universities with teaching hospitals owned by for-profit companies 183
App. B Reducing deficits and increasing surpluses in private medical schools that do not own their primary teaching hospitals 192
App. C Interviewees 204
Notes 233
Index 255
Overview
Why would a university renowned for its school of medicine ever sell its teaching hospital? In his newest book, Dr. John A. Kastor presents an insider’s view of why university medical centers decide to sell teaching hospitals, why the decision might be a good one, and how such transitions are received by the faculty and administration.
Kastor tells the story of two universities that, under financial duress for more than a decade, chose to sell their teaching hospitals. George ...