The search committee to select the Duke University Health System's next Chancellor of Health Affairs, who will be named next spring, met Thursday to outline the requisite criteria and qualifications.
Committee chair Roy Bostock characterized Dr. Ralph Snyderman's future successor as someone with "world-class credentials in academic medicine," who would build on the success of the Health System and lead it into the future.
"I think it's clear to say we want an individual who has outstanding academic credentials, who understands the clinical side of [Duke University] Medical Center and its activities, as well as the academic side," said Bostock, a former Trustee and a founding member of the DUHS board of directors. He added that the candidate would need to have a proven track record of leading and building the strength of an academic facility, although the successor would not necessarily be someone who has headed a healthcare facility.
"We're looking for someone who has the tenacity, the resiliency, the energy to deal with an ever-changing and unpredictable environment," he said. "We're not looking for a revolutionary."
Bostock stressed the need for the successor to understand the nuances and uniqueness of the medical center and the Health System as well as how the clinical, academic and research components interact with each other. He said that healthcare facilities are extremely complex, particularly DUHS, which comprises Duke University Hospital, Durham Regional Hospital and Raleigh Community Hospital as well as the Private Diagnostic Clinic and the School of Medicine.
"When you've seen one health system, you've seen one health system," he said.
Bostock emphasized the 13-member search committee would have to find "someone able to interact as well as Ralph Snyderman with all the constituents" of DUHS.
"There are people who can do this," he said. "We'll find the right person."
Snyderman, who has been chancellor for the past 15 years, announced in March he will step down in June 2004, in tandem with University President Nan Keohane's decision to also step down at that time. The presidential search committee, which is a few months ahead of the search for the next chancellor, will be announcing its selection in February. The DUHS search committee will then nominate its candidate by March to both Keohane and the next president. This will facilitate coordination between the outgoing and incoming president to decide who will best lead the Health System.
"It also means the new chancellor would know to whom he's reporting," said John Burness, senior vice president for government affairs and public relations.
Although the search committee has March in sight, no interim deadlines have been determined yet. Bostock said the search committee is soliciting nominations from the Duke community and the general academic medical community.
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