Penn State Intercom......November 21, 2002
Kirch voted chair-elect
of AAMC Council of Deans 
Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, dean of the College of Medicine, senior vice president for health affairs and campus executive officer of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, was voted chair-elect of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Council of Deans. Kirch will serve as chair-elect until July 1, when he becomes council chair and a member of the association's executive committee.
The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including Veterans Administration medical centers; more than 105,000 faculty in 98 academic and scientific societies; and the nation's 66,000 medical students and 97,000 residents.
The Council of Deans is committed to the continuing improvement of the nation's medical schools. As an association of deans of medical schools, the council identifies issues affecting academic medicine and develops strategies to achieve the various missions of medical schools.
The council helps set policy for the association's service and advocacy functions; develops programs for improving institutional management; and supports the deans' leadership roles in guiding individual schools toward excellence in medical education, research and patient care.
In a related matter, Dr. Elliot J. Sussman, president and chief executive officer of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHHN) in Allentown and Bethlehem, was voted chair-elect of the AAMC's Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems. The council is composed of approximately 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 64 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, and serves as the principal source of hospital and health system input into overall AAMC policy and direction.
Lehigh Valley Hospital is one of Pennsylvania's largest teaching hospitals and is a major teaching campus of Penn State's College of Medicine.
The elections of Kirch and Sussman give Pennsylvania and Penn State two strong advocates to help shape the national health education and academic health-care agendas.
Kirch has served as the University's senior vice president for health affairs, dean of its College of Medicine and campus executive officer of Hershey Medical Center since July 1, 2000. Since his arrival, the college and medical center have enjoyed dramatic research growth, improved campuswide employee morale and strong financial performance.
Research funding for the college and medical center increased from $54.5 million to more than $83 million -- a $28.5 million or 52 percent increase -- over a span of two years. In 2001-2002, the medical center posted a $2.1 million positive margin and achieved dynamic growth in patient care, posting more than 40,000 emergency room visits, more than 16,000 operating room cases, and more than 594,000 outpatient clinic visits.
The College of Medicine earned its seven-year accreditation from the LCME earlier this year. The LCME site visit team gave the college a near-perfect score. The survey showed only three out of approximately 200 standards for which the College of Medicine was in less than full compliance. In addition, the LCME team noted the level of synergy they felt existed between the college and medical center.
Sussman's Penn State faculty assignments include professor of health evaluation sciences, Leonard Parker Pool professor of health systems management and professor of medicine.
Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available on the Web at http://www.aamc.org/newsroom.