UTRGV School of Medicine unveils new ‘Transforming Care Together’ organizational structure

Transition to Integrated Service Units will unite school’s mission with long-term goal of becoming a larger, more efficient sustainable healthcare system (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

By Saira Cabrera

Edinburg, Texas – Aug. 26, 2023 – The UTRGV School of Medicine recently unveiled a new organizational structure that will unite the school’s mission with the long-term goal of becoming a larger, more efficient sustainable healthcare system.

The initiative, being called “Transforming Care Together,” will see the School of Medicine transition into an Integrated Service Unit (ISU) model. Overall, the school will consolidate 14 departments into 7 new ISUs, which will strengthen the alignment between UT Health RGV and the School of Medicine to accelerate the future ability to:

•     strategically recruit,
•     grow research from bench to bedside,
•     expand its class size,
•     build clinical specialty areas,
•     and drive informed resource decisions to achieve its mission.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently approved changes to the UTRGV School of Medicine’s department structure.

‘DELIVERING OUR MISSION’

Dr. Michael B. Hocker, senior vice president for UT Health RGV and dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine, said the ISUs would combine the School’s clinical and basic science departments into 7 departments to be better positioned for long-term success.

It is an innovative model, he added, that many of the most successful academic health care institutions in the nation have also adopted to better serve patients and learners.

“The new organizational structure allows us to right-size our school and design an innovative organizational structure that best fits our unique mission and current practice,” he said. “Transforming how we operate in response to external challenges, opportunities and continuous improvement is familiar to our evolving medical school. Today’s changes are further steps in seeking ways to deliver our mission to benefit our students, patients, and the Rio Grande Valley community.”

Hocker expressed that when joining the UTRGV School of Medicine, he was tasked to create an organizational model that would support the school and encourage growth by serving the underserved Rio Grande Valley.

Since joining as dean two years ago, he has gained an understanding of the resource pressures of the school and its departments as it continues to evolve.

The newly approved restructuring efforts aim to benefit the School of Medicine and encourage interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration while becoming a self-sustaining healthcare enterprise.

THE HEALTH CARE DEMANDS

“I recently convened an inclusive group of leaders from our core mission areas, including research, education, and clinical care to discuss and develop a new approach to our organizational structure,” said Hocker.

With UTRGV President Guy Bailey’s full support, the new structures were created to better position the school to meet the health care demands, strengthen the school’s foundation, and support the future growth of its mission across the region, South Texas, and beyond.

“This is part of our School of Medicine’s natural evolution,” Bailey said. “Our academic medical institution has already produced extraordinary results to address not only the shortage of medical experts in our region but to make specialized care more accessible to Valley residents. This ISU model positions us for incredible success as we prepare to build an academic health system here in the Rio Grande Valley.”

Over the last several months university and School of Medicine leaders met and shared the vision of service lines with department chairs, the executive committee of the faculty assembly, UTRGV and UT System senior leadership and Human Resources and Organizational Development.

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE AND ESSENTIAL

“Change is inevitable and today’s changes are further steps in seeking ways to deliver our mission for the benefit of our school, patients and community, and to become competitive and sustainable as we grow,” Hocker said.

As these transitions officially take place Sept. 1, 2023, School of Medicine leaders will continue to host meetings and announce opportunities for faculty and staff to provide input on the remaining design work for how these new departments will best operate to deliver the research, education and clinical care missions of the medical school as it continues to evolve and grow across the Rio Grande Valley.