Menard begins as UMA’s chief medical officerby Cindy AbolePublic Relations Obstetrician Kathryn (Kate) Menard, M.D., is covering more territory these days than during her past 10 years practicing medicine at MUSC. Aside from her high risk obstetric practice at the Prenatal Wellness Center in West Ashley, and long nights staffing Labor and Delivery, one is more likely to find her shuttling in and out of clinics at Rutledge Tower or busy talking with peers in one of the busy hallways of the Clinical Sciences Building or main hospital. She tries to be everywhere, meeting with faculty, physicians and staff listening to individuals or discussing practice issues and challenges in a new role that allows her to be both a voice and ear for others. Menard, who is an associate professor of Maternal and Fetal Medicine in the Department of OB/GYN, was named in July to the position of chief medical officer for University Medical Associates (UMA). This is a newly created position in the 11-year old organization. As a physician who embraces the mission of the university’s faculty practice plan and understands the business and financial practicalities of the UMA, Menard will be the voice and facilitator among physicians, leadership and management in their quest for excellence in patient care. “The program has already gone through a transformation just within this past year,” said Bruce Elliott, M.D., UMA president. “Having someone as bright and intelligent as Kate is this position reminds us of where we are now, where we’ve been and in what direction we are heading.” As the university’s faculty practice plan, UMA has already fared through some turbulent financial times that has initiated organizational changes in its leadership and business practices to remain active. Last July, the organization named Elliott to the position of UMA president and hired chief executive officer Bruce Quinlan in January to help steer the program’s mission and financial affairs for the group. This change in leadership coupled with the addition of then new College of Medicine Dean Jerry Reves, M.D., as vice president for Medical Affairs, offered a chance at new perspectives and opportunities in steering the physician practice. “With the arena of academic medicine changing so rapidly, it was important that we addressed issues that would keep us aligned with our clinical and academic missions,” said Reves. “We needed to integrate physician leadership with our practitioners and management if we were to maintain a viable and effective practice plan.” Menard’s primary role is to be a liaison between physicians and leadership to communicate ideas; to inspire other physicians to be proactive while empowering them to implement new solutions to improve operations, productivity and resources, Reves said. “We need more input from our physicians,” Menard said. “Working under one roof as a loosely knit “team” of individual physicians, or “group” of clinical departments, all pursuing the same goal of providing good medical care is not enough to ensure our future. We need to find ways to integrate leadership, physician membership and management to support the practice plan’s mission in order for everyone to work well together. Physicians must be accountable, in part, for organizational performance. This, in turn, makes MUSC a more desirable place to practice medicine.” Menard embraces her role with energy and enthusiasm in her efforts to modify the practice culture while seeking to encourage more physician involvement. She does all this while continuing to see her patients and be part of a busy high risk obstetrics practice. A graduate of Duke University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey, Menard completed her residency in OB/GYN at the University
of
Menard’s preparation for this new administrative role is through service on numerous department and UMA committees. She also completed a year-long Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program, a program that focuses on women in leadership by allowing professionals to enhance their management and networking skills with other academic medical centers. A portion of its emphasis involves financial analysis and budget planning within university medical programs. “It is important that we keep a fresh outlook through diversity of opinion,” Elliott said, of his frequent meetings and discussions with UMA’s top physician representative. “Having Kate’s input and perspective is helpful. Sometimes things are not always as they appear.” Through this past year’s cost-cutting maneuvers and reorganization, Menard maintains a positive attitude while continuing to interpret the numerous challenges ahead of her in this clinical enterprise role. Always looking ahead, she is moving forward in communicating the institution’s needs for excellence in education, research and patient care. Bottom line is she wants to make MUSC an attractive place for people to work. “I want MUSC to be the place that physicians choose to practice medicine. This will allow the university to recruit and retain the most qualified faculty as teachers for our students and residents. The down stream effect is a healthier South Carolina,” said Menard. “We can’t support UMA’s mission and its clinical practice programs in
the same manner as in the past,”
“Change through effective leadership, open and continuous communications
and an acknowledgment of the need for change is vital to the future and
our efforts.”
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