U searching for new health care chief as negotiations continue on hospital deal

The University of Minnesota has begun searching for a top executive to run health affairs as negotiations continue on a deal for the U to reacquire its teaching hospital facilities in Minneapolis.

In an internal announcement Wednesday, U President Rebecca Cunningham said she hopes to name an interim executive vice president for health affairs by early next year. In addition, the university is proposing changes to its relationship with the University of Minnesota Physicians (UMP), the group practice for doctors at the U.

The U Board of Regents is scheduled to consider the changes during meetings this week. Cunningham said in an interview the changes and the hiring of the new interim health care leader are happening independent of a potential deal to acquire the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

“[UMP] aims to adopt an updated governance structure in partnership with the University that will maintain and empower faculty, physician and health care professional leadership, while preparing to lead a reenvisioned and full-scale operation of our university health system,” Cunningham said in the joint internal announcement with Dr. Bevan Yueh, CEO of UMP, and Dr. Jakub Tolar, dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School. “An implementation plan for integrated governance will be developed by June 30, 2025.”

Minneapolis-based nonprofit Fairview Health Services owns the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Fairview and the U signed a letter of intent in February for a deal in which the U would pay 51% of the agreed purchase price by the end of this month, followed by a second closing later.

In the interview Wednesday, Cunningham did not say how much the university might be willing to pay for the medical center.

“We’re making progress in our conversations,” she said. “Negotiations are ongoing.”

The internal announcement states the U has started work to enhance care delivery, including an analysis of faculty compensation and productivity. In March 2023, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported Fairview chief executive James Hereford had raised questions about the productivity of U physicians and whether an ongoing affiliation agreement was directing disproportionate financial benefits to the university.

Cunningham didn’t say whether there was a connection between the analysis and the earlier questions.

The U and Fairview currently market health care services under the brand M Health Fairview through an affiliation agreement that runs through 2026. Like the deal for selling the teaching hospital, the future of the affiliation agreement also is being negotiated.

Cunningham noted how the U trains a large share of the state’s health care workforce:

“There is no family and no patient across the state of Minnesota that isn’t impacted by how we support a strong, bold new vision for our University of Minnesota Medical Center and health care,” Cunningham said. “Go talk to your physician and your dentist and your health care provider and [you’ll find] 70% of them were trained here.”