Finalists announced for top job at UAMS

University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt named on Friday a second pair of finalists vying for the chancellorship at its academic medical center after the withdrawal of the first two.

The finalists for the next leader of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock are Stephanie Gardner, 53, who before becoming interim chancellor at UAMS was the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost; and Dr. Cam

Patterson, 54, senior vice president and chief operating officer at New-York-Presbyterian/Weill-Cornell Medical Center.

The two will meet with the campus community next week — Gardner on Monday and Tuesday, and Patterson on Wednesday and Thursday.

“I’m confident that both of our finalists have the skills and experience to thrive as our next chancellor, and I believe both understand and appreciate the important role UAMS plays as the state’s only academic health center,” Bobbitt said in a prepared statement. “These are unique times for academic health centers across the country and it’s critical that we have a leader who can help ensure a bright future for UAMS moving forward. I’m pleased that both of these individuals are excited about pursuing this opportunity.”

The winning candidate would replace Dr. Dan Rahn, who retired in July after eight years at its helm. He earned an annual salary of $630,000, along with $270,000 in annual deferred compensation, which is set aside for his retirement, from the UAMS foundation.

The state has allocated a maximum of $375,000 for this fiscal year for the position, but Arkansas Code Annotated 6-63-309 states that a limited percentage of exceptionally qualified people can earn up to 25 percent more than the lineitem appropriated amount. Institutions can supplement salaries through private funds as well.

Neither finalist would be the youngest leader of UAMS, as Dr. Harry Ward started as chancellor at age 46 in 1979, said Leslie Taylor, vice chancellor for the Office of Communications & Marketing at UAMS.

The next chancellor will take charge of the academic medical center at a time when UAMS is staunchly sticking to its three-pronged mission — educating health care professionals, providing patient-centered health care and advancing research — when the industry’s future is uncertain.

UAMS has an annual budget of $1.4 billion, increased in recent years in part because of reduced uncompensated care, a result of Arkansas Works, the state’s expanded Medicaid program. But, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has requested federal approval to move about 60,000 people off the program by limiting eligibility to people with incomes up to the poverty level, instead of 138 percent of the poverty level, and to impose a work requirement on many of those remaining.

As of Friday, a decision on the state’s request hasn’t been announced.

The academic medical center is currently reviewing cost-saving measures for what administrators there are estimating could be a deficit of more than $72 million, nearly half of what it anticipated.

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