In a withering assessment, leaders of the University of Miami are complaining strongly about the overall direction of the Jackson Health System and the doctors they're hiring.

Phillip George, a plastic surgeon who is chairman of the UM Board of Trustees, said he was upset about the quality of Jackson's new doctors. ``I wouldn't send my family to many of them.''

The comment came during a summit that brought together the leaders of the two major South Florida institutions at a time when Miami-Dade's public health system is struggling with mounting losses -- and growing concerns about UM's ambitions since it purchased Cedars Medical Center, across the street from Jackson Memorial Hospital.

For South Florida's healthcare consumers, the tension between the two healthcare giants raises questions about where is the best place to get treatment. For Miami-Dade's taxpayers, the question is how their tax dollars are being used at the Jackson system, which bears much of the burden for treating the poor and uninsured in the county.

On Tuesday, Gerald Kaiser, Jackson's chief medical officer, called George's statement about Jackson's doctors ``ill-advised. . . . We have been very careful in building up Jackson's medical group.'' He noted that many of them have have privileges at UM's hospital as well as at Jackson.

For more than a half-century, the institutions worked closely together, with Jackson Memorial serving as the medical school's teaching hospital. But since UM purchased its own hospital, Jackson has decided to build its own brand, hiring doctors and putting increased emphasis on its suburban operations at Jackson North and Jackson South hospitals.

At the summit Monday, William Donelan, the UM medical school's chief operating officer, decried Jackson's expansion strategy, which he said was trying to emulate the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and suburbs. ``I don't think it's a winning proposition, frankly,'' Donelan said. He believes the public system's strength is Jackson Memorial, with its UM doctors, and that's what should be emphasized.

Donelan noted that Jackson Memorial's image in the community has been deteriorating, citing a poll by Bendixen & Associates. In 2000, Jackson was the top choice of 44 percent of persons when asked where they wanted to go if seriously ill. Baptist was a distant second, at 20 percent. This year, the two hospitals were in a virtual tie -- with 35 percent selecting Jackson and 32 percent picking Baptist.

The summit was called by Eneida Roldan, who became Jackson's chief executive in June, as one of a series of measures to turn around the struggling hospital. She said she was seeking a ``transparent'' sharing of data in which UM would detail what it's doing at its new hospital.

She said many at Jackson are concerned that UM doctors, who staff both hospitals, are sending patients with private insurance to its facility, while putting the poor and uninsured in the tax-subsidized Jackson Memorial.

``I do worry about what crosses the street,'' said Georgena Ford, a member of the Public Health Trust, which governs the Jackson system.

Pascal Goldschmidt, dean of the medical school, said the new University of Miami Hospital was not doing anything to endanger Jackson. ``We've done a lot of good things together,'' he said, but acknowledged the perception of distrust on both the UM and Jackson staffs ``has worsened substantially.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@