Marsh Leaves UC-Davis Medical Center to Head Stanford Health System
Martha Marsh, director of the University of California-Davis hospital and clinics, will become president and CEO of the Stanford hospital system in April, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Marsh said that her top priorities at Stanford will be improving the hospital system's finances and "upgrading the standards of quality and service." Stanford officials have projected a $9.7 million loss on operating revenues of $722.5 million for the current fiscal year, after posting a $27 million loss on operating revenues of $736 million during the last fiscal year. The hospital system attributes the losses to low reimbursement rates from health plans, increasing prescription drug costs and a "tight labor market for nurses and other medical professions" (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/30). In addition, Stanford is still struggling to recoup its losses from its failed merger with University of California-San Francisco Medical Center, which cost the two systems a combined $176 million (Rapaport, Sacramento Bee, 1/30). Marsh said, "The problems they have are viable, and they need to be managed. And they will be" (San Francisco Chronicle, 1/30). Philip Pizzo, dean of Stanford's medical school, said Marsh also will be tasked with "refocusing resources on the hospital's research and specialty areas," such as cardiovascular services, cancer care and neurosciences (Sacramento Bee, 1/30). Officials credit Marsh with improving "efficiencies and patient care in operating rooms and the emergency department, reducing hospital stays and achieving same-day appointment scheduling in primary care physician practices" during her three-year tenure at UC-Davis (San Francisco Chronicle, 1/30).
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