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[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

We're glad someone is looking for more information about how this new organizational structure will be "fleshed out." Depending on who you ask, this appointment is either a minor bureaucratic shuffling that codifies seven-month-long discussions or a major reorganization of the health sciences at the university -- reorganization that lopsides the balance of power between the teaching, research and clinical missions of UI health sciences.

The Board of Regents, at some other point in its history, might have been the appropriate watchdog to oversee how this restructuring progresses. Unfortunately, with groups throughout the UI community -- and the Press-Citizen itself -- having voiced their lack of confidence in the regents' leadership, now would seem to be a bad time to implement an organizational change for which exact details seem to be clear only to the two main decision makers: Fethke and Robillard.

During Monday's announcement, Fethke was clear about what the position was not. First, it is not as widespread as the vice president for health sciences position held by Robert Kelch until 2003. Rather than focus on all health sciences, Fethke explained, the new vice president position is more concentrated and will oversee the college of medicine, UI physicians and University Hospitals -- groups whose budgets dwarf the rest of the health sciences combined.

Second and more importantly, Fethke stressed that the appointment of a vice president of medical affairs has nothing to do with the search for a new UI president. Yet the issue of health science oversight was inextricably involved with the failure of the last presidential search. Despite the ongoing discussions about reviving this vice president position, Regent President Michael Gartner said that board rejected all four candidates put forward by the UI search committee because the candidates did not have sufficient experience overseeing the health sciences. The three-year appointment facilitates the hiring of a president without significant health science experience, but we would feel more confident if a permanent president was making this appointment.

Downer, who oversees the regents' University Hospitals committee, added that the new organizational structure should not be seen as punitive against any of the people involved. For example, while the restructuring gives University Hospitals CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky the additional title of senior associate vice president, it also places her administratively under Robillard. Some may consider the arrangement a demotion for the CEO -- or at least a power imbalance in the influence of the medical school versus that of the hospital -- but Katen-Bahensky and Robillard have such a good working relationship that the administrative changes could work well to streamline the efficiency of both institutions.

Because of the influence of UI and University Hospitals on the state's economy and health, all Iowans benefit when the medical school and the hospital work together smoothly. All reports suggest that if anyone can make this new arrangement work, it's Katen-Bahensky and Robillard, but much work still will need to be done. Groups within and outside UI need to continue keeping an eye on this position to see how everything gets fleshed out.