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Clinical Enterprise Subcommittee Home
Jan 16 Minutes

Clinical Enterprise Strategic Plan Subcommittee
Strategic Plan Draft I
January 16, 2003

Our Purpose: Mission, Vision, and Values

It is our Mission to use the strength, creativity and intellect of our integrated scientific community to advance the care of Kentuckians through excellence and innovation in health care, research and education.  Our Vision is to solve the health care problems of Kentucky through an innovative, focused and interdisciplinary approach leading to national and international recognition.  In advancing our purpose, we must refocus on our commitments to our Values of Discovery in our research, Preparedness in our education, and Care excellence in our clinical work.

In these pursuits, is our intent to achieve greater levels of recognition among the nation’s top tier of public academic clinical enterprises, thereby contributing to enhanced levels of recognition for the University of Kentucky.

Our Situation: Market and Prospects

Our proposed initiatives for the clinical enterprise are underpinned by four key assumptions.

Assumption #1: We expect a modest growth in demand for our ambulatory and acute care services in the Greater Lexington market, and a smaller degree of growth from the broader outstate region.  As an academic center, our greatest opportunities for growth and distinction reside in the complex higher acuity services in the largest areas of need for Kentuckians: cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurosciences, and musculoskeletal.

Assumption #2: We expect a very difficult financial environment, with payment for our services coming under major reduction pressure on the federal (Medicare), state (Medicaid), and local (commercial) levels.  In addition to reductions in all of our “insured” populations, we expect dramatic growth in the uninsured as greater numbers of Kentuckians lose their health care coverage.  Finally, we do not expect increases – and may in fact have decreases -- in direct funding we receive from the State of Kentucky and the University proper.

Assumption #3: We expect escalating levels of competition for insured patients from our larger local “community” hospitals – Central Baptist, St. Joseph – both of whom are as large and sophisticated as our own clinical enterprise, and both of whom can provide generally higher levels of patient service quality at lower costs.  Our trend of losing market share to these institutions must be reversed or our rapidly dwindling capacity to provide services at quality volume thresholds and our financial wherewithal to sustain our enterprise will be exacerbated.

Assumption #4: We expect to have to replace our aging facilities over the balance of the decade, and further expect to have to finance such replacements with our own resources.  Our current levels of retained capital in the hospital and medical school, and the projected profitability of the same, are insufficient to generate the necessary capital, requiring we receive additional capital and/or improve our profitability and access to debt capital.

Within this environment, our clinical enterprise is not positioned to be the leader in Lexington, let alone the nation, without bold and sweeping changes in our strategy and culture.

Our Recommendations: Strategic Goals and Initiatives

Under development