Roger Brown: How are our public institutions being led?

Dear Editor,

I would first like to congratulate UVM President Dr. Suresh Garimella on his exciting new opportunity in Arizona .

But I also think the question needs to be asked about how our major public institutions are being led: are they focusing on improving the lives of those they serve, or on improving their administrators’ chances of “moving up”?

Does the University of Vermont really need to develop R1 research status ? Is that what the state of Vermont needs for its high school graduates? Certainly some degree of high-level research, but chasing schools that are better positioned seems to me to be a fool’s errand.

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I have the same question about UVM Health Network, as we wait for news that CEO Dr. Sunil “Sunny” Eappen is the only candidate to run Tenet Healthcare, or some other massive institution. Would the Tenet directors care about how much he added to the physical plant, or how happy the nurses are? Would they care how many surgical subspecialties were added, or how long patients have to wait for basic procedures? Would they worry about how much market share the Network gained, or how many Vermonters can’t afford to go to the doctor for a checkup? I assume in those interviews you blame the Green Mountain Care Board for the bad stuff and take credit for the good stuff.

Try this, UVM board of trustees — don’t hire a president. We have enough administration at this point. Orders of magnitude more than we have had historically.

Roger Brown

Richmond

Read the story on VTDigger here: Roger Brown: How are our public institutions being led? .