MU School of Medicine dean resigns

The dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine will resign at the end of the month.

MU announced Patrick Delafontaine’s resignation, effective March 31, in a news release Friday. Delafontaine is taking a job with another institution, according to the release.

“We appreciate all the work that Dean Delafontaine has done over the past several years to strengthen the School of Medicine,” MU Provost Latha Ramchand said in the release. “It is a key factor to the success of the state of Missouri as MU educates the vast majority of Missouri medical professionals. Additionally, the research enterprise at the School of Medicine has grown during his leadership. We’re looking forward to utilizing that foundation and expanding the research and academic success greatly.”

Delafontaine was chief of cardiology at Tulane University before coming to MU in December 2014. He resigned from his MU position less than a year later but returned to the job after five months and a change in the chancellor’s office.

He also oversaw the medical school during a time when an accrediting agency said MU was out of compliance in several areas including student diversity and student mistreatment.

Professor Steven Zweig, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, will be interim dean while the school searches for a permanent replacement. The UM System has begun a search for an executive vice chancellor of health affairs who would oversee the med school and MU Health Care.

The university touted accomplishments during Delafontaine’s tenure that include expanding student class size, opening a clinical campus in Springfield and the opening of the Patient-Centered Care Learning Center in Columbia.

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