Dear colleague: 

Colorado lawmakers introduced a bill last week that will have a devastating impact on our campus and on health care in the state of Colorado if it becomes law. House Bill 23-1215 would give government regulators the power to determine where certain health services are provided and would let those regulators restrict fees collected for services. The bill intends to eliminate charges known as facility fees, but it would prohibit hospitals and clinics from charges that cover the salaries of nurses, security officers, front desk receptionists, patient access representatives, social workers, phlebotomists, pharmacists, environmental services staff, information technology staff, and many other members of the team who are critical in caring for patients. It also prohibits hospitals and clinics from collecting payment for other essential services related to providing safe and high-quality health care. If this bill becomes law, it will wipe out thousands of jobs, impair our ability to provide safe and high-quality care, and deny access for thousands of patients. We are united with our partner hospitals and the Colorado Hospital Association when they say this bill is catastrophic. This bill would cause extraordinary harm to hospitals and clinics without offering hope of relief for people needing care. Instead, it will make it harder for our patients to get timely care while preventing hospitals and clinics from covering appropriate costs related to that care. We oppose this bill. 

U.S. Rep. Jason Crow visited our campus last Friday to hear reports from two initiatives that received Community Project Funding in the federal budget approved by Congress in December. Crow and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper sponsored including the projects in the budget. The projects that received funding provide training for students obtaining a rural public health certificate and to support students from underrepresented backgrounds as they pursue education in injury and violence prevention. Both are collaborations between the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health. “We seed things that have amazing growth potential and that can punch way above their weight if they just get that initial seed money,” Rep. Crow said in our meeting. Many thanks to Mark Deutchman, MD, associate dean for rural health at the School of Medicine, and Danielle Brittain, PhD, associate dean for academic and student affairs at the Colorado School of Public Health, for presenting on the rural public health certificate program, and to Ashley Brooks-Russell, PhD, MPH, associate professor at the Colorado School of Public Health and  director of the Injury and Violence Prevention Center, and Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, professor of emergency medicine and deputy director of the center, for discussing Injury and Violence Prevention Center. 

Satish Garg, MD, professor of pediatrics and director of the adult diabetes division at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, received the Insulin Centennial Award last week at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments of Diabetes. Conference organizers said Satish deserved the award for his hard work, dedication, and leadership for insulin therapy in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. 

Kelly Doran, PhD, professor of immunology and microbiology, and Alexander Horswill, PhD, professor of immunology and microbiology, have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. Kelly and Alexander were among only 65 new fellows elected in the Class of 2023 fellows. 

Kristy Gama, NP, MSN, instructor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, and Elizabeth Tupta, NP, MSN, senior instructor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, received Medical Staff Clinician of the Year awards at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital 2022 Medical Staff Awards Dinner last Tuesday. They and many other faculty members were honored at the dinner. At this year’s the ceremony, honorees picked their own walk-up music when they went to collect their awards. For Kristy and Elizabeth, it was “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads. The most creative choice probably belongs to the complex care transitions committee, which celebrated with “Hit the Road Jack.” Congratulations to all the evening’s awardees. Your exemplary work is an inspiration to all on campus. 

Three projects from our campus were named DataWorks! Prize winners this month. The national competition, sponsored by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and the National Institutes of Health, was established last year to highlight examples of innovative data sharing and reuse. Two of the winning programs are coordinated by the Translational and Integrative Sciences Laboratory led by Melissa Haendel, PhD, chief research informatics officer and Marsico Chair in Data Science. The National Covid Cohort Collaborative received the Grand Prize, Data Sharing. The Monarch Initiative, led by Monica Munoz-Torres, PhD, associate professor of biomedical informatics, received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Data Reuse. The Krishnan Lab, led by Arjun Krishnan, PhD, associate professor of biomedical informatics, received the Significant Achievement Award for Data Reuse.  

Rare Disease Day is Tuesday, February 28, and a series of presentations will be held from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Elliman Conference Center in the Anschutz Health Sciences Building. You can find more detail about the day in Chancellor Don Elliman’s monthly newsletter. 

The 2023 Surgical Care Report from the Department of Surgery offers an overview of the impressive accomplishments of our faculty and staff. The report covers recent clinical, educational, research, and administrative achievements division-by-division. 

Condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Timothy Gardner, MBA, formerly chief financial officer for the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine, who died Monday, February 13. Tim had an adventurous and accomplished life. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, he postponed his job search so that he could captain a 50-foot wooden sailboat across the Atlantic Ocean. After working in Chicago, he and his wife, Deborah Froeb, moved to Colorado, where they raised two sons, became active members of the community, and where Tim pursued a career in banking and as an entrepreneur. He joined Gates Center in 2013. A memorial service for Tim will be held May 20 at 2:30 p.m. in the gardens of St Anne’s Episcopal School. 

The Academy of Medical Educators is accepting applications to its Teaching Scholars Program. This 18-month program, running from September 2023 through March 2025, develops health professions educational leaders with a focus on core tenets of curriculum development, educational scholarship, and educational leadership. Participants engage in a seminar series, complete an educational curriculum or research project, and enjoy faculty mentoring and a supportive learning community. Deadline to apply is March 10. Direct questions to Riley.remedios@cuanschutz.edu. 

Carolyn Goble, manager extraordinaire for the Dean’s Office, was the star of the show last Thursday as we gathered to bid her a fond farewell and offer best wishes for a happy retirement. Carolyn has dedicated the past 16 years to making the University of Colorado a better place and during the past six years she has been the magic power for our executive recruitment efforts. I met Carolyn when she worked in the chancellor’s office and I was a candidate to become Dean. She made such a good impression that I made it a priority to convince her to join the School of Medicine, where she established a consistent, reliable process to provide excellent and welcoming service to our senior leadership recruits and search committees. She kept us on track while we’ve recruited more than a dozen department chairs and other senior leaders. She has made a lasting positive impact on our school, and we have been fortunate to have her outstanding organizational skills and grace under pressure to help us through those many searches, even as she handled all the other duties of managing the Dean’s Office operations. We will miss her here and we wish her great and much-deserved happiness in retirement. Carolyn’s final day is Wednesday, March 1. We are fortunate to have Beth Otis, who has worked for CU for 13 years, most recently supporting Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Rod Nairn, PhD, joining us as Carolyn’s successor.

Have a good week,

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine