The Jim Interview

Abstract

Though the effects of managed care can be seen all across the country, the state of Minnesota has clearly been in the forefront of change. While this has presented an opportunity to be on the leading edge of health reform, it has also had a revolutionary impact on all previously held ways of doing business.

A long-time faculty member at the University of Minnesota, Frank Cerra was named Dean of the medical school in May of 1995, a time which found the University of Minnesota Hospital in a precarious position. The day-to-day financial workings of the institution soon became his major focus and in 1997 he became the Senior Vice-President for Health Sciences. In this position much of the restructuring and strategic planning of the school is now under his supervision, and he has dealt with several daunting challenges both within the school and the state. Interviewed in his office in Minnesota, Cerra candidly reflected on the power of market-based health reform and the frustrations involved in turning a slow moving public institution towards the future.