D*R*A*F*T PROJECT STATEMENT
Project Name:
Date:
Acting as a Single Enterprise (AASE)
November 1, 2007
Project Leaders:
Tom Manning, Chair
Todd Keating, Co-Chair
Project Manager:
TBD
Background: Senior leaders from both UMass Memorial Health Care and UMass Medical School reached consensus
that it would be in the interest of both organizations comprising our academic health center to spend some time
together crafting a joint strategic planning effort. During a two day retreat, October 17-18, 2007, senior
administrators and academic leaders from both the clinical system and the medical school gathered together to
discuss the core values of the entities, gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face our
respective organizations and create a framework for the development of a strategic plan for our academic health
center enterprise
Statement: As a result of the 1997 merger between UMass Medical Center and Memorial Health Care and the
separation of the Medical School from what was known as the UMass Medical Center, two separate entities were
formed: UMass Medical School a state-owned and operated campus of the University of Massachusetts, and UMass
Memorial Health Care, Inc. a not-for-profit integrated health care system. For the past nine years the two
organizations have functioned as independent organizations with a linked destiny. Although sharing a common
mission towards achieving distinction in research, education, public service and patient care, the two organizations
have each operated distinctly separate administrative services and support functions, coming together in routine
manners in order to work towards their common mission. The operation of separate and distinct functions may yield
inefficiency, poor resource utilization and competing priorities as each organization strives to achieve its primary
mission in isolation of the collective mission of the larger enterprise.
Opportunity: With many years of working as one enterprise prior to 1998, and many years operating as two distinct
but linked entities post 1998, the executive leadership of both organizations is committed to creating a framework for
the development of a strategic plan to promote an environment of acting as a single enterprise, thereby positioning
us a premier academic health science center. Part of this strategic plan is the exploration of opportunities to colocate, consolidate, integrate and/or centralize key administrative and support functions to maximize efficiency,
service and cost in pursuit of our collective mission.
Goal:
With a goal of working as one strong academic health center, this working group will:
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create a common identity and branding strategy
create a framework for ongoing joint decision making
identify, analyze, and execute on shared service opportunities
assess potential for co-location of leadership teams
communicate with all parties as appropriate
Specifically, on behalf of the enterprise, the project team will identify opportunities to act as a single enterprise by
co-location, consolidation, integration and/or centralization of administrative & support functions. The project team
will consider the creation of a “newco” for certain functions for the purposes of maximizing efficiency, expertise and
cost on behalf of the enterprise.
Priority:
High
Project Manager:
TBD
Project Sponsor:
Tom Manning, Deputy Chancellor, Commonwealth Medicine, UMMS - Chair
Todd Keating, CFO, UMMHC, Inc. - Co-Chair
Project Team:
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George Brenckle, CIO, UMMHC
Doug Brown, Senior Vice President, Legal Counsel, UMMHC
Michael Collins, MD, Interim Chancellor and Sr. Vice President for Health Sciences
Joanne Derr, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, UMMS
Walter Ettinger, MD, President, UMMHC
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Terence Flotte, MD, Dean and Executive Deputy Chancellor, UMMS
Allan Jacobson, PhD, Chair, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Bob Jenal, Vice Chancellor for Operations, UMMS
Gary Lapidas, Senior Vice President, UMMHC
Cheryl Lapriore, Chief of Staff, UMMHC
Dan Lasser, MD, Chair, Family Medicine and Community Health, Interim President of the Group Practice, UMMHC
John O’Brien, CEO, UMMHC
Bob Peterson, CIO, UMMS
Kathleen Q. Powers, Associate Vice Chancellor, Chief of Staff
Michele Streeter, Vice President, Finance and Administration, UMass Memorial Medical Group
Patricia Webb, Vice President for Human Resources, UMMHC
Staff:
 Susan Levine, Chief of Staff, Commonwealth Medicine, UMMS
 Angela Stanikmas, Executive Assistant – Administrative Support for Project Team
 Whitney Jones, Research Associate – Research support
 TBD, Project Manager
Objectives:
The project team will make recommendations for ways in which the following administrative and core functions can be
co-located, consolidated, integrated and/or centralized in order to assist in acting as a singe enterprise:
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Branding
Development
Facilities (Including maintenance, parking and security)
Financial Services
Government Relations
Human Resources
Information Services
Master Space Planning and Property Management
Public Affairs (Public Relations, Media Relations, Communications, Marketing)
Strategic Planning
Other support functions (i.e. DEO, housekeeping, project management, etc.)
Process
The process for this workgroup includes, but is not limited to the following:
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Utilize Noblis consultant as a member of the workgroup to serve as process observer in order to identify process
improvements, identify sensitive areas, ensure participation and communication, and identify risks and
opportunities. Additionally, Noblis will be utilized to develop survey tool and conduct interview sessions.
 Review and prioritize list of administrative services and core functions to be included in process
 Develop and implement survey tool to collect data from senior managers on opportunities for co-location,
consolidation, integration and/or centralization for each identified administrative service and core function
 Conduct follow-up interviews with senior managers for each administrative service and core function area to
ensure comprehensive review and identification of opportunities and risks
 Conduct user focus groups for all or a portion of the administrative and core services identified to ensure
comprehensive review and identification of opportunities and risks.
Success Criteria
AASE action plans will be created for each administrative area/support function listed above. Each action plan will
define short term (< one year), medium term (1-3 years) and long term (3-5 years) objectives for acting as a
single enterprise. Additionally, stakeholders for each function will identify “quick hits” that can be implemented
within 3 months to symbolize and demonstrate successful efforts towards working as a single enterprise.
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Service Level Agreements will be developed for each function.
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Updates will be provided on the Strategic Planning website.
Risks and Risk Mitigation Strategy:
 Job insecurity – Staff may feel that their job is in jeopardy or that this initiative is aimed at downsizing. This could
impact the ability of staff to offer creative and innovative solutions. Mitigation Strategy: Joint leadership will send
a communication articulating clear intent.
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Communication – The team will function in a transparent manner, but this could raise concern for staff and
vendors. A communication plan and strategy will be developed to ensure clear and consistent messaging.
Mitigation Strategy: A public affairs resource person will be assigned to the project to ensure clear and consistent
messaging.
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Merger Legislation (Definitive Agreement) & Corporate Authority – The team must stay in compliance with merger
legislation and articles of incorporation for UMMHC, Inc. Mitigation Strategy: A team member will be identified to
ensure recommendations are consistent with legislative and legal authority.
Scope:
The scope of this project will not exceed the functions above without consultation with the Joint Task Force.
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Items for Consideration, Assumptions, Dependencies
 Definitions:
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Co-location – Sharing the same physical locale.
Consolidation – Merging and eliminating redundancies.
Integration – Working collaboratively, bringing all parts together.
Centralization – Merging, concentrating under one center.
Governance:
The AASE project team will report to the Joint Strategic Planning Task Force.
Estimated Project Duration: The AASE workgroup will commence on November 15, 2007, draft an interim
report by February 1, 2008 and complete its final report by May 15, 2008.
Project Milestones:
Task
ID
Description
Ettinger/Flotte
Scheduled
Finish
Date
Nov. 8
Tom/Todd
Nov. 8
Tom/Todd
AASE Team
Tom/Todd
Nov. 15
Nov. 15
Dec. 6
Tom/Todd
Feb 1
May 15
Responsible Party
Joint Strategic Planning Task Force Kick Off
Meeting
AASE Draft Project Charter presented to Joint
Task Force
AASE Project Team Kickoff
Project Team Charter Reviewed and Revised
Project Plan Reviewed and Approved by
Steering Committee
Interim Report submitted to Joint Task Force
Final Report Completed
Resources:
 Marketing firm to develop new branding strategy.
 Consulting firm (Noblis) to provide workgroup and survey/interview support, as identified above.
 Project Management support.
 Other resources as identified.
Prepared by:
Tom Manning and Todd
Keating
Date:
November
1, 2007
Approved By:
Date:
Predecessor
(If any)