Thursday, 5/8/97 Students fear future education as merger comes
to close University officials say opportunities, experience to be
gained
By Brooke Olson Daily Bruin Senior Staff As the proposed
UCSF-Stanford hospital merger nears a tentative close, some
students are becoming increasingly concerned about the future of
their medical education. UC officials plan to turn over the UCSF
Medical Center to a private, nonprofit organization co-owned by
Stanford by July 1. Although each university would continue to
operate their medical school independent of the merged hospital,
several students said they fear their residencies could be affected
by the merger. "I fear that as the public university becomes a
private, money-driven corporation, education will be put on the
back burner," said Shelly Tse, a second-year medical student at
UCSF. Although final details of the merger have not been
determined, university officials argue that medical students’
education will be enhanced by the deal. The merger of the hospitals
and clinics at UCSF and Stanford began as a strategy to preserve
the educational mission of medical schools at both institutions,
said Hale Debas, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine. Survival of
medical education programs remains the critical need driving the
merger, Debas added. Although the university currently is not in
the red, administrators fear that as managed health care becomes
more competitive, UCSF will be hard-pressed to retain both academic
and medical programs. Administrator’s arguments are "pure
rhetoric," according to opponents of the merger. "I haven’t heard
very many concrete plans for the merger … it seems like they’re
just doing this without a lot of foresight and without really
contemplating how this could affect students," said Jason Maskatau,
a first-year medical student at UCSF. But administrators at both
campuses believe otherwise, noting that the merger would allow
students to gain a wider array of medical experience through
cross-integration of the schools. "The merger’s really only going
to help medical students," said Terry Sheperd, spokesperson for
Stanford. "Students will be able to do their residencies at the
other campus for a quarter … and that would allow them to see
more patients." Critics argue that these educational opportunities
would be limited to wealthy students. Stanford Hospital, located in
the upper-scale area of Palo Alto is out of reach of any viable
public transportation. Even if students are offered the chance to
intern at either medical school, only those with cars would be able
to participate, critics note. "All of these ideas that the
administrators have are in favor of middle- to upper-class students
and could severely limit a lower income student from
participating," said Greg Vaughn, internal university affairs and
educational equity director for the UC Students Association. Merger
proponents acknowledged that no forms of public transportation have
been arranged to transport students between the schools. Despite
administrators’ reassurances, some students are hesitant to lend
their full support to the merger. "The merger can have serious
implications for the nature of their education," Vaughn said. "The
rotations that (medical students) do starting in their third year
offer students the opportunity to acquire hands-on experience.
"With the hospitals under the control of a private board that makes
decisions economically oriented, our concern is whether or not the
students will be considered first … I don’t think they will," he
added. Administrators at both schools have long argued that only by
merging can the two hospitals guarantee their future in an era
marked by stiff competition from managed care organizations. The
merged company would look to become the provider of choice for
highly specialized care in the entire Bay Area while still
maintaining a role as a primary-care provider in the immediate
areas of San Francisco and the Peninsula. But the proposed merger
has come under increasing scrutiny by state legislators, students
and several UC Regents. Concerns ranging from privatization of a
public entity to claims that the new company would be more into
profit than patients, have plagued the UCSF-Stanford board since
its inception early last year. Legislators have continually tried
to make the merger process more open to the public. On Tuesday, a
bill that would ensure legislative oversight of the financial
records of the merger cleared an Assembly committee. The bill would
require the Assembly and Senate budget committees, the legislative
analyst and the joint legislative audit committee to inspect the
financial records of the merged hospitals to ensure that public
money is being spent appropriately. "We want to be sure that the
money is used to adhere to UCSF’s original mission which is, of
course, service to poor and needy communities," said San Francisco
Assemblywoman Carole Migden, the bill’s author. Concerns raised by
both legislators and regents could have some bearing on the
negotiations. According to officials, the merger is not a done
deal, but Stanford management and its UCSF counterparts have set a
self-imposed goal to reach an end point by July 1. Related Links:
Regents’ Briefing