Medical School Ousts Chief

The medical school affiliated with Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center placed its president on paid administrative leave Friday after a series of tough sanctions levied against its doctor training programs.

The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science replaced Dr. Charles K. Francis less than two weeks after a national task force questioned his leadership skills and called for his ouster. Drew’s executive vice president, Harry E. Douglas III, was appointed interim president.

Douglas said he hoped to prepare the institution for a new president but would not be a candidate for the position.

Drew University receives $13.8 million annually from Los Angeles County to run the 18 doctor training programs at King/Drew, a county-owned hospital in Willowbrook, just south of Watts. The hospital and medical school were built after the 1965 Watts riots to provide medical care to the area’s community and to train minority physicians.

In the last year, however, the university’s management has been called into question after a national accrediting group revoked its ability to train aspiring surgeons and radiologists at King/Drew. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education also has proposed shutting down the neonatology training program.

A county-appointed task force led by Dr. David Satcher, the former U.S. surgeon general, said in a Dec. 23 report that Francis “has lost confidence of many on the board, the faculty and the surrounding community.”

The report chastised Francis and other leaders at Drew University for allowing “the evolution and continuation of the present crisis regarding residency training” and for not responding “with the sense of urgency that the situation demands.”

Nationally, few residency programs have been sanctioned as harshly as Drew’s. In addition to surgery, radiology and neonatology, the internal medicine program is on probation and the anesthesiology and family medicine programs have been proposed for probation.

King/Drew residents have some of the lowest pass scores in the country on their national specialty board examinations.

Satcher’s group suggested that Drew reduce the number of training programs it offers and form a partnership with the University of California system or USC to help run the rest. Dr. Carole Jordan-Harris, the newly elected chairwoman of Drew’s board of trustees, said the university “did not skip a beat,” moving quickly to make leadership and organizational changes after the Satcher report came out. She was a member of the task force.

“In the last month, since I have been chair of the board, things have clearly moved in a whole different direction,” she said. “This is truly a new year and a new direction.”

Jordan-Harris declined to say whether Francis would return to his job or why he was placed on leave, citing rules protecting employees’ confidentiality.

Francis, who has been president since 1998, also declined to comment Friday, saying it would be premature. He earned a $212,000 salary, plus $16,111 in benefits and deferred compensation, from July 2001 to June 2002, according to the university’s filings with the Internal Revenue Service.

Douglas, 66, said he looks forward to restoring internal and external confidence in the university.

“There is a lot of good work that’s going on at the medical center,” he said. “There are some people that have left the institution because of all the negative publicity.”

Douglas was hired by Drew in 1983 to create its College of Allied Health after completing a similar task at Howard University in Washington, D.C. That school trains medical support staff.

Subsequently, he was vice president of academic affairs at Drew, during which time he helped the university receive accreditation from the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges.

He was promoted to executive vice president in 1995.

Despite its problems, Drew has many positive accomplishments, Douglas said. It is in the process of receiving final approval to offer a program leading to a master of science degree in clinical research, which could begin admitting students this year, he said.

The school also runs international health programs in Latin America, Africa and Cuba.

Douglas said he wants to correct accreditation problems in the doctor training programs and stabilize internal management. He said he has been asked to brief the executive board next week on his ideas for change and will work with the board to consolidate some training programs at King/Drew.

“I believe in the institution,” he said. “I believe in its mission.”