Chad Swiatecki, Monday, August 12, 2024
Central Health executives spoke out against the University of Texas Dell Medical School's April firing of all staff working in diversity, equity and inclusion programs and suggested they may scale back or terminate their contract with the school.
Last week's Central Health Budget and Finance Committee meeting included discussion of various services and collaborative agreements the health district has with medical schools that are separate from the voter-approved annual $35 million payment to care for vulnerable communities.
Board member Cynthia Valadez said the university's enforcement of the requirements of a new anti-DEI law passed by the state Legislature last year runs counter to Central Health's commitment to equitable health care in Austin.
“Given the fact that the University of Texas has taken a position supporting partisan state elected officials who oppose any efforts by institutions or government entities to improve DEI efforts, I personally find it problematic to invest funds in a racist and systemically biased system – the University of Texas Medical Branch and all of its affiliated entities and affiliates,” she said while asking the institution’s treasurer for a list of active contracts with the medical school.
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Knodell said Central Health has a $4.3 million clinical services contract with the School of Medicine that focuses on medical specialties such as musculoskeletal and gynecology, and a smaller clinical contract with the School of Nursing for less than $50,000.
Chief Operating Officer John Morgan added that Central Health has a long-term, $1.4 million ground lease for the medical school building, as well as a master services agreement for various services provided to Central Health patients. Morgan said there are also discussions in place to expand those agreements to additional services, such as pain management, psychiatry and reproductive health, and that the two companies are collaborating to recruit physicians and nurses trained in specialty areas.
Valadez said he wants the board to evaluate whether it makes sense for Central Health to manage these and other needed services directly rather than outsourcing them to the medical school.
Board member Shannon Jones agreed with Valadez.
“It would be very hard for me to vote in favor of a budget that supports a medical school that has made decisions that are at odds with what the voters voted for. The voters voted to include the equity piece,” he said.
The potential overhaul of Central Health's financial and contractual relationship with the medical school could complicate ongoing litigation and jeopardize the $35 million in annual payments paid to the medical school through property tax assessments collected by the health district.
Board chair Ann Kitchen noted that the lawsuit and its ultimate outcome must be considered in conjunction with any other actions related to Central Health's contract with the School of Medicine.
“We are currently in litigation over the $35 million, and the discussion of what we can spend that $35 million on and when we can say we have discretion over the payment of the $35 million is tied to the litigation. So I would like to defer the discussion of whether we should pay the $35 million based on UT's actions or inaction to a discussion of that litigation.”
Photos are published under a Creative Commons license.
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