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by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
MUSC leadership didn't have to look far when it came to finding a qualified, energetic and visionary leader to take the helm of the medical center and the Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA).
They found the right fit with Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., executive medical director and chief medical officer. Cawley was named vice president for clinical operations and MUHA executive director in late January. He will assume this role officially April 1.
In a Jan. 22 letter announcing Cawley to the medical center's top leadership position, MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., said that Cawley brings a deep understanding and appreciation to the hospital. He emphasized that Cawley will continue to serve as a champion for quality, patient safety and high standards set through MUSC Excellence.
Cawley replaces MUHA executive director Stuart Smith who served more than a dozen years leading the medical center and retiring after 40 years on Dec. 31, 2012. The search to find Smith's replacement began in 2012 with the establishment of a MUHA Executive Director Search Committee headed by Etta D. Pisano, M.D., vice president for medical affairs and College of Medicine dean. Cawley assumes this role at a time where the medical center faces multiple challenges. MUSC's mission is threatened by continued cuts to education funding, decreased federal funding in medical research, reductions in clinical income and South Carolina's rejection of expanding Medicaid under the
Affordable Health Care Act. The institution is committed to supporting education, conducting research, delivering quality patient care and improving the health of the people of South Carolina.
During this transition period, Cawley, as executive director designate, will work with Kester Freeman, interim vice president for clinical operations and MUHA executive director. Freeman, who was the former CEO of Palmetto Health in Columbia, serves as executive director of the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and has been active in the state's health care industry for several decades.
Primarily, Cawley and Freeman will work on several financial improvement and short-term plans for the medical center. Cawley wants to improve integration and the relationship between the hospital's 6,800-plus nurses, clinical care staff and employees; MUSC Physicians, the physician's group that consists of almost 950 doctors; the College of Medicine; as well as MUSC's five other colleges. He looks forward to working closely with the MUHA Clinical Leadership Council to align goals and efforts for further development.
"What I see as key to MUSC's future is everyone working together in all efforts. We can't afford to operate separately any more. Everyone's got to work closer to achieve synergism in a coming era of tighter resources," said Cawley.
According to Cawley, Freeman knows South Carolina and continues to be an advocate for health care throughout the state. He's an experienced CEO and possesses great vision, perspectives and viewpoints.
"Kester understands MUSC's place and role in South Carolina and health care. It's good to work with someone that I know I'll continue working with through the S.C. Institute of Medicine and other key areas in the future," he said.
High on Cawley's priorities is managing the medical center's financial tightening. Cawley set a goal to improve the financial performance through further development of MUHA's cost savings plan, the hospital's fiscal improvement plan and other activities. "This is going to be tough on everyone, but we need to financially improve the enterprise in the next six months and be prepared to continuously do this again and again. MUSC has to learn how to do more with less."
Other goals include: prepare for health care reform, focus on population health, employee satisfaction, improve communications, explore ways to work closely with the physician group and leadership development.
At a recent meeting with MUHA leadership, Cawley emphasized that there's no time like tough times to ensure that MUSC's leadership is at its best. In leadership moments, he expects managers to be ready to step in and help out in any situation.
Cawley also will continue to support current projects, such as improvements in the hospital's health information technology (IT) efforts through the expansion of Epic, the hospital's electronic medical record system, with full implementation by 2014. MUHA's Access Initiative to improve medical services and the delivery of health care using standardized metrics to quickly refer patients also will be priorities.
He's dedicated to improving quality and patient safety. Cawley worked closely with former MUSC medical director John Heffner, M.D. in building the medical center's Quality & Patient Safety department into a reputable program. In 2012, MUSC was one of four academic medical centers across the country to be awarded the Rising Star Award for patient safety and health care quality through the University Healthsystem Consortium.
"The time is never better for us to be focused on the same goals in health care. We need to ensure that we can continue to do this. We're linking better through health IT, making improvements in quality and patient safety and other activities through the hospital's practice plan. It's important that we continue to move aggressively on this path," Cawley said.
Working with Huron Healthcare and the institution's senior leadership, it's Cawley's goal to improve the organizational performance through a new MUSC Performance Excellence plan to standardize efforts, improve efficiency and reduce waste in the system.
Originally from Scranton, Pa., Cawley was recruited to MUSC in 2003 as director of MUSC's hospitalist services. Cawley is an associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine.
Cawley received his undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry-business from the University of Scranton in 1988. He earned his medical degree from Georgetown University in 1992 and conducted his internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center. Cawley is board certified in internal medicine and a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. In 2012, he was named a Master of Hospital Medicine by the Society of Hospital Medicine, where he also was past president of this organization.
Friday, Feb. 15, 2013
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