myVU - Resources for Faculty and Staff

Jacobson leaves enduring legacy

Posted 5/29/2009

Vanderbilt Medical Center was at a critical turning point in 1997 when a 50-year-old nephrologist and health care entrepreneur named Harry Jacobson, M.D., took over as CEO.

His predecessor, the legendary Roscoe “Ike” Robinson, M.D., had led the Medical Center through a major growth spurt. But now, because of dwindling reimbursement under Medicare, Medicaid and managed care, “the operating margins for the clinical enterprise were pretty thin,” Jacobson recalled.

The first imperative was to cut costs and negotiate better reimbursement rates.

That wouldn't be enough, however, to preserve and strengthen VMC's three missions: patient care, education and research.

Jacobson, now 61, will retire in June after achieving much of what he set out to accomplish.

VMC not only weathered what he dubbed a “financial perfect storm,” but its growth since then has been nothing short of astonishing.

To read more about Jacobson's legacy, visit the VUMC Reporter online here: https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/reporter/index.html?ID=7270

Contact: Bill Snyder, (615) 322-4747
william.snyder@Vanderbilt.Edu

---