Two finalists named for top job at UAMS

Candidates to visit campuses in July

The University of Arkansas System named two finalists — both with ties to the state — for chancellor of its academic medical center on Thursday.

The two candidates for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock chancellor are Dr. A. Wesley Burks, 63, executive dean of the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, 62, executive vice president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

A 17-member search committee appointed by UA System President Donald Bobbitt narrowed the list of 25 applicants to two after meeting with candidates and other people of interest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earlier this month, said Nate Hinkel, director of communications for the system.

“These two individuals have the experience and leadership skills necessary to lead a major academic medical center, and I’m thrilled to invite them to campus to meet the students, faculty, staff and community stakeholders who serve as the lifeblood of our state’s leading medical institution,” Bobbitt said in a prepared statement.

The winning candidate would take charge of the academic medical center at a time when UAMS is staunchly sticking to its three-pronged mission — educating healthcare professionals, providing patient-centered healthcare and advancing research — when the industry’s future direction is uncertain.

UAMS, with an annual $1.4 billion budget, is the largest public employer in the state with more than 10,000 workers throughout multiple campuses and sites. It educates 3,000 students a year and oversees seven specialty institutes, including those in cancer, aging and psychiatric research.

It has increased its coffers by $65 million and reduced uncompensated care from 14 percent to 3 percent because of Arkansas Works, the state’s expanded Medicaid program, officials have said. But, changes are afoot as congressmen work on repealing and replacing the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The finalists are vying for the position held by Dr. Dan Rahn, 67, who is retiring at the end of July. Hailing from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Rahn led UAMS for the past eight years and earns $630,000 annually, plus a car and $13,000 for housing. On top of that, the UAMS foundation provides $270,000 in annual deferred compensation, which is set aside for his retirement.

Now, both of the finalists will make four-day trips to Arkansas to meet with faculty, student leaders, administrators, UA trustees and the campus community. The trips include on-site visits to the UAMS’ Little Rock and Northwest campuses.

Jacobs is scheduled to visit from July 16 to July 19, and Burks from July 25 to July 28.

Bobbitt, who was unavailable for further comment Thursday, will ultimately recommend the hiring of one candidate to the UA board of trustees.

Trustee Mark Waldrip of Moro said he had the utmost confidence that the search committee thoroughly vetted the candidates to reach the two finalists, both of whom he called “well-rounded.”

“They’ve got a broad and diverse background of experiences,” said Waldrip, who leads the board’s Joint Hospital Committee. “For me, personally, I’m looking for an individual who is more of the total package, who possesses the technical knowledge of all areas in the medical field. I think it requires a unique skill set that extends to the business side, the philanthropy area. It’s not in the strictest sense an administrative position.”

Jacobs, who was born in Camden, completed his undergraduate years at Harvard University in 1975. Four years later, he earned his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

He spent several years in Pennsylvania as an intern, a resident, a fellow and chief resident, mostly in general surgery, according to his resume. In 1989, Jacobs earned a master’s in public health from Harvard.

Jacobs became an associate professor of surgery at the Ivy League school until 1999. Then he worked at Creighton University’s School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb., and at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

He started the position he currently holds in 2012 at the UT branch, where he is a tenured professor in surgery, preventative medicine and community health and in the Institute for Translational Sciences. Jacobs is also a senior fellow in the Sealy Center on Aging and holds a distinguished chairmanship.

In those roles, he oversees 3,800 staff members and trainees in four schools within the university and is responsible for an annual budget of $2 billion, he wrote in his cover letter. Under his leadership, the school opened a 310-bed hospital on Galveston Island and a short-stay facility on the city’s mainland in 2016, and, the year before, it took on the responsibility of a regional community hospital, he said.

Jacobs said since fiscal 2013, hospital discharges, procedures, clinic visits and provider productivity have increased by double digits. He touted the school’s diversity — it ranked highly nationwide in numbers of Hispanic, black and underrepresented minority graduates — and said the student pass rate was 96 percent or more in 2015.