Medical school dean’s success story began in Haiti

New leader at UM’s Miller school seeks to broaden appeal

From immigrant beginnings, Dr. Henri Ford has reached rarefied heights in American medicine, graduating from Harvard Medical School, training as a pediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and, over the past 13 years, serving as vice president and chief of surgery for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

This week, Ford climbed another step in his professional career. He was named the new dean of the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

Born in Haiti, Ford immigrated to Brooklyn with his family at 13, and he has returned often to his native country to help provide medical care, train doctors and plant the seeds for healthcare infrastructure that he hopes will one day provide many on the island a better life.

UM’s dedication to Haiti, particularly its deployment of surgical teams and other resources following the January 2010 earthquake, played a critical role in Ford’s decision to accept the top job at the Miller School of Medicine.

“This is my dream job,” Ford said on Monday from his office at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, where he is vice dean, professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the department of surgery. “As I reflect on my journey in American medicine, I truly feel I’ve been preparing all my life role like this one.”

Ford is driven and ambitious. His motto, he said, is, “There is no satisfactory substitute for excellence.” And he means it.

“What enticed me,” Ford explained of his decision, “is that I firmly believe UHealth [University of Miami Health System] and the Miller School of Medicine must become the preferred destination of people seeking the latest advances in healthcare and biomedical research, both nationally and internationally. We have to be the destination of choice.” to assume

Ford starts the job June 1. He said he wants to create a close relationship between UM’s medical school, the university’s healthcare system and the broader community, not just South Florida but the Caribbean, South America and the Western Hemisphere.

“We have to become really a major hub of clinical and biomedical innovation,” he said. “We have to be able to invest in discovery and then have the wherewithal to translate clinical discovery into clinical intervention that will im-