PROFILE: Kelley focuses on Med School goals

School of Medicine Dean William Kelley will soon come up for review, but he does not seem to have much to worry about. While serving in the dean position, Kelley has also spent the last six years as the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and Health System's chief executive officer. Since his arrival at the University, there have been phenomenal positive changes, according to his colleagues. Kelley said he thinks some of his greatest accomplishments include virtually eliminating serious financial trouble in the school and filling open chair positions, many of which had been left open for up to ten years. Eight new centers and institutes have developed under Kelley's reign, including the Institute for Human Gene Therapy, the Center for Bioethics, the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology and the Institute on Aging. In addition to these new organizations, seven existing departments in the Medical School have changed their direction. Kelley has also recruited 20 departmental chairpersons, including the ones for these new centers and institutes. He said he personally visits candidates chosen by a search committee and gets to know them. Kelley then makes a decision, or asks the search committees to do find more suitable people. Since 1989, the University has been rated first or second in nationwide evaluations of medical schools, according to Kelley. And, he said, Medical School applications have increased by 89 percent since he became dean, compared to the nationwide increase of 59 percent. This year, applications are up 20 percent from last year, Kelley said. With roughly 150 slots and 9,000 applicants, the school's acceptance rate becomes a mere 4 percent, he added. Between 1987 and 1989, the Medical School experienced losses totalling $26 million. Since then, Kelley said, tremendous effort has gone into reducing costs, even though revenues have risen. The Medical School has made $65 million worth of cuts in hospital expenses and $30 million has been taken from clinical practices. Kelley has constantly espoused a motto of "cost reduction and quality enhancement." "[The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has] gone from being the most expensive hospital in the United States to being the least expensive university hospital in Philadelphia," he said. According to Kelley, patient activity has increased from 376,000 visits in 1991 to 1.4 million visits this year. Kelley said his decision to join the University has been a blessing, but he noted that he never would have taken the position without being able to take both the CEO and dean positions at the same time. Most of the University's peer schools do not have this unique integration of two positions, Kelley said. Achieving progress is easier, Kelley explained, because he does not have to spend time on the "inevitable major conflicts that would exist if we didn't have that kind of organizational structure." According to Center for Bioethics Director Art Caplan, Kelley's primary mission is to improve the education his students are receiving. Kelley genuinely likes being dean and especially enjoys interacting with students, Caplan added. "He is committed to the medical education first," he said. "I think that's why he is still here." Radiology Department Chairperson Stanley Baum said the changes that have occurred under Kelley's leadership have helped the Medical School tremendously. "I think he has been phenomenal," he said. "If you evaluate a medical school on the basis of its educational program, clinical and research programs I would have to give him an A-plus." Baum said he considers Kelley one of the country's best medical school deans. A committee consisting of faculty, students and alumni will conduct Kelley's upcoming review. They must decide whether Kelley will remain dean of the Medical School for the next five years. The committee will assess his performance as well as the progress of the Medical School. The entire process takes about two months.

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