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Balser aims for smooth medical center transition

Posted 4/1/2009

The incoming vice chancellor for health affairs pledged to work for a smooth transition at a town hall meeting in Langford Auditorium.

Dr. Jeff Balser, who will replace the retiring Dr. Harry Jacobson on June 1, spoke along with Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos at the April 1 event, which closed with a question and answer session.

“I’ve been mentored and nurtured by most of the people on the (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) leadership team,” Balser said. “If I ever stop listening, I’m in trouble. You have permission to call me on that.”

Balser and Zeppos praised Jacobson, who announced March 30 his plans to retire.

“There really is a special connection across this campus that Harry Jacobson deserves credit for,” Zeppos said. 

Zeppos said that Jacobson would be staying with Vanderbilt as an adviser to the chancellor and was also being courted by others at the university, including the Owen Graduate School of Management.

“We had planned (for succession) very, very carefully and despite the suddenness of it, we have discharged our fiduciary duty,” Zeppos said.

Zeppos said he was committed to being supportive of the medical center in a time when the economy is unstable and the entire health care system is due for a shakeup. He said he expected Vanderbilt University Medical Center to play a prominent role in that effort.

Balser urged medical center staff and faculty to “keep our eye on the ball,” and said he would be focused, a proponent of fairness and transparency and committed to open dialogue.

“We will work hard,” Balser said. “We will accomplish a great deal, and we will do it as a team. I need the support of everyone in this room.”

Zeppos and Balser responded to questions from the near-capacity audience at Langford about the search to replace Balser as dean of the medical school and the relationship between the university and medical center. Balser said he would consult faculty at the medical center about the search for a new dean, as well as peers at other institutions.

Balser said he was confident in the future relationship of the university and medical center at Vanderbilt.

“Chancellor Zeppos knows how to be supportive at the right time, but we’re driving the ship,” Balser said.

Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu

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