For months, supporters of the University of Toledo Medical Center have pleaded with state officials to investigate whether the former Medical College of Ohio hospital was undermined by a 50-year agreement between UT and ProMedica.
Now it appears they’re getting their wish.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office confirmed this week it is “looking at issues involving the University of Toledo Medical Center,” while university officials acknowledged in a news release that they are “cooperating with the State of Ohio as it reviews the Academic Affiliation Agreement.” Supporters of UTMC also told The Blade that they’ve been interviewed by the attorney general’s office about the agreement, which provided UT’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences with financial compensation in exchange for the training of residents at ProMedica facilities.
The deal was originally portrayed as a partnership to bolster the medical college’s finances and improve the medical education for residents and students, drawing medical talent to the region. However, state lawmakers and UTMC supporters from the South Toledo community argue the hospital has suffered financially after a large number of UTMC faculty and hospital residents were moved to ProMedica’s flagship Toledo Hospital — leaving the public teaching hospital a shell of its former self.
David O’Neil, a senior public information officer in Mr. Yost’s office, said in an email to The Blade on Wednesday that the attorney general is “looking at issues involving the University of Toledo Medical Center.”
Mr. O’Neil and fellow Senior Public Information Officer Steve Irwin both declined to comment further.
Former Toledo Mayor and head of the Save UTMC coalition, Carty Finkbeiner, confirmed that he and others had been contacted by the attorney general’s office regarding the academic affiliation agreement. He said he was asked about a previous audit of the university’s finances and whether Save UTMC had any additional information about money that had come into UT or UTMC.
State Sen. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo), who has publicly called for a thorough audit of UTMC’s finances and for the resignation of UT medical college dean Dr. Christopher Cooper, was pleased with the actions of the attorney general’s office.
“We know that they’re looking at it, talking to various people and individuals, and we’ll see what comes of it,” she said. “I’m grateful that the Attorney General is taking a serious look at reviewing the 2015 affiliation agreement, and we hope that any conflicts of interest and overreach on the implementation would be reversed as the law provides.”
Ms. Fedor also cited a May 6, 2015 communication sent from the office then Attorney General Mike DeWine to UTMC CEO David Morlock that reviewed a letter of intent outlining the proposed academic affiliation agreement. The communication was generally supportive, finding “no present antitrust concerns regarding the proposed affiliation as it is set forth in the letter of intent.”
It also stated that the agreement would need to be “carefully structured” to minimize the inherent risks of competitively-sensitive information such as price being shared in the joint venture. As such, the letter did not preclude the attorney general from taking future action “should the proposed affiliation prove to be anticompetitive in purpose or effect.”
Now Mr. DeWine is Ohio’s governor, and in a June 1 letter to his office, Ms. Fedor argued that five years in the affiliation has in fact been anticompetitive in effect, resulting in the transfer of physicians, revenue-generating services, and other resources from UTMC to ProMedica — little of which was detailed in the agreement.
“ProMedica has not been contacted regarding any inquiry related to the Academic Affiliation,” said Tausha Moore, ProMedica’s director of public relations. “The Academic Affiliation between ProMedica and the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences was thoroughly vetted by both involved parties and reviewed by the Ohio Attorney General in 2015. The terms of the Academic Affiliation Agreement have been available to the public online since its inception. Both parties continue to adhere to the terms as outlined to enrich the quality of medical education and expand clinical training capacity in Toledo.”
Ms. Fedor and others have also called into question the purpose of the agreement, citing potential financial conflicts of interest of two UT Board of Trustees members who signed off on the deal.
In a Wednesday news release, the university acknowledged that the state was looking into the academic affiliation agreement, one of the first public acknowledgments of any such inquiry.
“UToledo officials are also cooperating with the State of Ohio as it reviews the Academic Affiliation Agreement,” the release read. “The university has committed to working with the State to perform a review of historical information pursuant to the implementation of the Academic Affiliation Agreement and the hospital’s operations.”
The university declined to comment beyond what was said in the statement.
UT President Dr. Greg Postel did not respond to a request for comment.
UT recently consented to an agreed-upon procedures audit of the university, where UT and the Ohio Auditor’s Office mutually agreed to the audit’s financial scope. It was released on June 22, providing a broad overview of UTMC and the College of Medicine and Life Sciences’ budgets since the affiliation agreement.
But for some, it raised new questions while answering old ones. Ms. Fedor and state Reps. Paula Hicks-Hudson, Michael Sheehy, and Lisa Sobecki held a July 8 news conference to ask for a more thorough financial audit.
Currently, the auditor’s office is still in talks with the university to conduct an operational performance audit of the university’s finances.
A performance audit was “strongly suggested” by Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber following the more cursory audit, which was initially declined by UT as the six-month process exceeded their desired timeline to sell or lease UTMC. Now that the hospital is no longer on the market, a performance audit could be coming.
“We are still in the process of determining a scope for the performance audit with the university,” said Allie Dumski, a spokesman for Mr. Faber. “We anticipate that a review of the affiliation agreement will be included.”
In April the university announced it was requesting bids from parties interested in either purchasing, leasing, or managing the medical center. The university maintains that UTMC has suffered steep financial losses — including a more than $25 million budget deficit — and has become unsustainable.
In July, the university announced it was putting the brakes on plans to sell or lease UTMC. The scheduled transfer of UTMC’s orthopedic services to ProMedica was also postponed.
First Published August 13, 2020, 10:50 p.m.
