MU curators and community members sit down for first Health Affairs Committee meeting
Three UM System curators and two community members met in open session for the inaugural meeting of the Health Affairs Committee.
Pam Hendrickson, John Phillips, and Phillip Snowden will represent the board on the committee.
The two community members will serve to give a more unofficial view on the committee and provide more transparency for the committee as well.
UM System spokesperson John Fougere said the board decided it wanted a direct line to the business and financial practices of the University of Missouri Health Care system.
“The health system’s input on the University of Missouri mission is very profound,” he said. “The board wanted to make sure it had greater oversight into that going forward because it’s a relationship it never had before.”
According to the committee description, members will “receive and review regular reports from the University of Missouri Health Care and the MU School of Medicine’s faculty practice plan.”
The areas the board will oversee could include strategy, governance, compliance, operations, and coordination of the clinical, teaching, and research missions.
Tuesday’s meeting served as an orientation for the committee where MU Health officials explained just how they operate when it comes to those clinical practices, research and teaching techniques.
The committee also heard an overview of the financial performance of the health care system at MU, including its operating expenses and incomes for the past year, from MU Health CFO Brian Steines.
UM System CFO Brian Burnett discussed the financial impact of the health system.
“Brian Burnett talked about, overall from a financial side, just how important the health care system is to the overall University of Missouri system’s financial health,” said Fougere. “That’s extremely important and the board just wanted to have some greater insight into that.”
Steines explained some of the statistics the committee will be working with as well, including the number of ER visits and inpatient surgeries that have been done in the last fiscal year, July to March.
The committee plans to meet again in conjunction with the June Board of Curator’s meeting.
