Guest Opinion
UIC Medical Center:
Why the Dean and Vice Chancellor Resigned
On Oct. 1, Gerald Moss resigned as Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine (UICMC). Shortly after that, Vice chancellor for Health Affairs, Charles ‘Chip’ Rice, did the same.
The campus was expecting these resignations since this summer. The chancellor, Sylvia Manning, announced that she was going to combine the two positions. She said this action was necessary after considering the reports of two outside consultants. Both reports recommended changes in the administration of the College of Medicine and the University Hospital to allow them to coordinate better.
Her stated reason doesn’t really explain what would cause the chancellor to force the two most powerful men at UICMC to resign.
I believe the real cause for their departure was the liver transplant scandal that erupted into national headlines one year ago.
Dr. Raymond Pollak, the former Chief of Transplant Surgery, had blown the whistle on the practices of three liver transplant programs in Chicago - including his own institution, UICMC. He alleged that physicians at the University of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and UICMC were falsifying the medical records of their liver patients. By making them appear sicker, these doctors moved their patients to the top of the waiting list for scarce livers from organ donors. This alleged misconduct cheated sicker and more deserving patients of the precious livers, as well as private medical insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, i.e., the taxpayers and the public. Dr. Pollak said that he believed that some deserving patients likely died waiting for one of those livers because of the misconduct by his colleagues.
Pollak was an ethical doctor who refused to go along with these practices. According to press reports, when his concerns were ignored by the three liver transplant programs and by administrators at UICMC, Pollak took his complaints to the Justice Department and the Attorney General of Illinois. Both agencies conducted investigations. They subsequently sued all three institutions for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. The University of Illinois at Chicago eventually paid a $2.3 million fine to settle the allegations of fraud and misconduct - actions called “illegal and immoral” by Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois.
Dr. Pollak’s courage and these events also had extensive coverage in the media. The Chicago Tribune and the Sun Times both ran numerous articles. CNN and ABC’s “Prime Time” each did a national story. Then the medical students in the College of Medicine rallied to support Dr Pollak and demanded that he be given his job back.
This was the final straw. There was so much controversy swirling around the Medical Center that Dr. Manning was under pressure to hold someone accountable. I, and many others, believe she responded to the clamor by removing the top two men.
This is a good start, but what has to be done to stop this from happening again? Ever since the Medical Center was reorganized in the 1990s to be ‘profit driven,’ there has been a string of well-publicized scandals. And some of those most responsible for these events are still in positions of authority and have yet to be held accountable. As long as the administration at UICMC continues to put profits before people, it is certain that more controversies will arise.
What future steps will the administration take to reform the Medical Center? Their next steps should be completing the job that Dr. Pollak started - finding those responsible for the unethical practices and punishing them.
More than that, the administration should also reward Dr. Pollak for his courage and give him his job back.
Eric Peters is a graduate student at UIC and an activist with Students for Social Justice.
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