UMRA’s September workshop featured Carol Bradford, MD, interim dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School and interim executive vice president for Health Affairs. In opening remarks, she spoke briefly about her career as a head and neck cancer surgeon and researcher, her long friendship with University President Rebecca Cunningham, MD, and her current role as a new grandmother. 

Bradford joined the University some seven months ago as the University and Fairview Health Services finally agreed to extend their collaboration for another decade following more than a year of controversy. The new 10-year partnership begins January 1, replacing previous University plans to buy back its flagship hospitals. 

The agreement includes University of Minnesota Physicians, the medical school’s non-profit faculty practice organization representing more than 2,000  physicians and advanced practice providers. Over the next decade, Fairview has committed to investing $1 billion in upgrades to campus health facilities, to phasing out the joint M Health Fairview brand, and to returning operational control of the clinics and surgery center to the University.

UMRA member and retired UMN Libraries Dean Wendy Pradt Lougee fielded questions asked by those attending the Zoom webinar. Perhaps surprisingly, many focused on the prior controversy and what comes next for the University-Fairview collaboration.

Bradford painted an optimistic future driven by the University’s strategic plan Elevate Extraordinary 2030. She noted the “One Health” model as guiding collaboration across University health professional schools, departments, colleges, and campuses. The World Health Organization describes the model as “… an integrated approach that connects human health, animal health, and environmental ecosystems to achieve optimal well-being for all.” 

A major goal

A major goal, Bradford said, is to expand and diversify Minnesota’s professional health workforce with training that is cross-disciplinary, engaging communities and their health systems across the state. One example is the highly ranked UMN-CentraCare collaboration in St. Cloud and nearby rural Minnesota communities. 

Recently, Sanford Health, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, increased its presence in Minnesota by partnering with North Memorial Health in suburban Minneapolis, and California’s Sutter Health is likely to connect with Allina Health. Bradford believes the state’s health systems will continue to value collaborations with the University, not only because of its health and medical care reputation but also because of its prominent reputation as a research and science powerhouse.

“I describe myself as a surgeon-scientist,” Bradford said. “It is important in working across communities with different cultures that we develop opportunities with them in research and discovery.” 

Cancer research is one of those areas, driven by Minnesota’s burden that four out of ten people will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in their lives. As the state’s population ages (the oldest Baby Boomers turned 80 this year), research and practice in aging and geriatrics is another area of increasing importance.

Bradford noted that the University is also a leader in Learning Health Systems research, the science of continuous improvement through data analysis and evidence that can be fed back efficiently into daily healthcare delivery. She also mentioned artificial intelligence as a growing part of healthcare, and said she believes its beneficial uses will evolve with new generations of health professionals learning to apply it within appropriate ethical boundaries. 

“AI can’t replace contact between the patient and healthcare provider, but it can help to better improve assessment, applications, and tracking new and changing discoveries,” she noted. “The challenge is how do we transform and sustain the health of all the communities we serve?”

—John Finnegan, professor and dean emeritus, UMN School of Public Health