Strategic Planning Committee Presents an Integrated Plan for CUMC

Letter from Dean Fischbach

In June 2001 we initiated a planning process for Columbia University Medical Center. We are aware of the limits of planning. We must always allow for serendipity, and the singularities that have lead to so many fundamental advances in biomedical science. Nevertheless, insights gained from strategic planning will allow us to manage change, to set priorities, and most importantly, to strive for excellence in everything we do.

The planning process was organized around our three core missions of research, education, and patient care. Progress was slowed by the events of 9/11 and the awful emotional aftermath, but we have not lost energy or enthusiasm.

It was obvious even before we began that space was a limiting factor in research, in education and in patient care. Therefore we also undertook an evaluation of existing space and a search for new, more flexible expansion space. At each stage, the space evaluation was influenced by, indeed driven by, the academic imperatives.

Space planning was undertaken in close collaboration with senior staff from the NewYork Presbyterian Hospital and from Morningside Heights. The project was coordinated by Karen Backus, Inc. and carried out by Cooper, Robertson & Partners and Rafael Vinoly Architects, along with experts in every aspect of urban and medical center planning. The result is an exciting "Framework Plan" that can guide us in the immediate future and for the next generation.

More than 100 faculty and staff participated either as members of the planning committees, or as resources to the committees. Another 200, including students, residents, and fellows, participated in focus groups organized by the Space and Education planning committees. Each of the academic planning committees submitted a report that reflects many thoughtful discussions, presentations by invited colleagues, written overviews of selected topics, detailed minutes, and summaries of focus group discussions. The academic committee reports, reformatted and condensed, appear in this document, and my initial response to the proposed initiatives appears as a separate document entitled "The Dean's First Response to Planning Recommendations." The Space Committee report is being published jointly with the NewYork Presbyterian Hospital.

The planning committees revealed several needs and problems, but they also reemphasized the many strengths of the Columbia University Medical Center. We certainly possess the intellect and the determination to address these needs and others yet undiscovered. All of the recommendations require money, of course. But I believe that the Columbia family is equal to the task. We will succeed in proportion to the degree to which we engage the enthusiasm of faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees, community leaders, and public and private patrons.

Neither the academic plan nor the space plan provides a rigid blueprint for action. Rather, the reports evaluate what exists and provide various options for the future. I offer them as the opening statement in what I hope will be an ongoing dialogue. They represent, in my mind, a summing up of a wonderful beginning. We must now roll up our sleeves and implement them with care, wisdom and speed.

I am enormously grateful to all who worked to bring us to this point and to those who will contribute to the further evolution of our plans and to their realization.

Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D.
Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences
and Dean of the Faculties of Columbia University Medical Center

Also of interest:

• Columbia University Medical Center Strategic Plan
• The Dean's First Response to Planning Recommendations
• Strategic Planning Committee Members and Contributors