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'Old' new Information Services employees come full circle by George Spain Information Services At the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, the Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA) welcomed 129 longtime employees as “new.”   The employees from the former Center for Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) had been working under contract to MUSC for more than 19 years. The firm managing their final contract was Quovadx, Inc., of Greenwood Village, Colo.   “It wasn't my intention to come in and immediately pull everyone back in-house,” said Frank C. Clark, Ph.D., vice president for information technology and chief information officer (CIO). “We studied the matter carefully, put together a business plan, and once we decided it was for the best, we made that recommendation to the MUSC leadership. We planned the move for more than 18 months.   “We were happy with the overall service we were getting from these employees, but, all things considered, we determined the best course of action would be to bring them in-house and specifically into the Office of the CIO as Information Services.”   Clark stressed the need for the OCIO to be more customer-oriented and service-focused. “We are a support service department and our agenda is that of the MUSC organization. Our service must be timely, effective and delivered with alacrity. We should thoroughly test any fixes or changes we apply and always follow up with users to see if problems have been resolved. Obviously there are areas for improvement and we'll address those areas,” Clark said.   For some employees, it's been a round trip.   Several longtime employees were part of the MUSC family before the information technology department was outsourced in 1987. They were state workers who suddenly found themselves working for a private company—back then, it was CSX Technology. While outsourcing companies came and went through the years, the employees remained mostly the same.   That first outsourcing was a very traumatic time for some.   “There were some companies bidding on the contract that I, personally, could never have worked for, because their corporate culture and values were simply wrong for me. Had any of them ended up winning the bid, I had to be prepared to leave MUSC, which was not something I really wanted to do,” said Richard Gadsden, one of the original employees.   Other employees echoed his concern. “We were told that we would be taken over by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) within a month,” recalls Linda Jarriel, who had worked for the state for 13 years before the outsourcing.   However, the state procurement office in Columbia nixed the deal and sent the contract out for bid. Eight vendors expressed an interest and the contract was eventually awarded to CSX, the railroad company.   Since that time, various companies have managed the outsourcing contract, including CSX, HBOC, Coleman Research Corporation and Thermo Electron (among others). Through the years, the number of staff increased. When the last bid was awarded for the contract in 2001, actual costs was $12 million annually.   Clark, who officially welcomed the old newcomers at a reception in the Wickliffe House, said that it was no small task to bring in the technology group back in-house.   “It required a lot of lobbying, hard work, and cooperation,” he said.   Much of that hard work fell to Melissa Forinash, director of support services for the OCIO, who shepherded the return of the flock.   “There was a lot of time spent evaluating potential alternatives, weighing the merits, and discussing them with key stakeholders across the university. Once a decision was made to transition the employees to MUHA, things moved relatively quickly. Hospital Human Resources was great to work with and helped to accommodate a lot of our needs,” said Forinash.   “Our concerns were focused on trying to establish as fair a transition as possible. We wanted to recognize the years of service that our contracted folks had provided to MUSC and the loyalty they have shown to the institution. Some 20 percent of the contracted employees pre-date the initial outsourcing contract in 1987—and 87 percent have been here at least five or more years. We wanted to make every effort to address their transition concerns, even if sometimes the answers were not what they wanted to hear.   “Some of the minuses include higher employee benefit costs and mandatory retirement contributions for some folks. Clearly, one of our lessons learned is that there is no perfect solution and you can't please everyone—we simply tried to do the best for the most.”   Forinash also noted that, “The end of the year became a real push to get everything done that needed to happen prior to the changeover. Now that the dust is settling a bit, we're focusing on how best to integrate and train the staff on the MUSC Excellence Initiative. We have some catching up to do, but it's an exciting time!”     Friday, March 16, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. 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