FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 2008
Contact: Joan Shnipper jshnipper@umm.edu 410-328-6776
Notebaert led UMMS during period of record-breaking growth and achievement
Edmond F. Notebaert, president and chief executive officer of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) for the past five years and a nationally recognized health system leader, has announced that he will retire on August 1, 2008. The UMMS board will begin the search for his successor immediately.
Notebaert, 64, says he began considering retirement last winter after having accomplished the goals he had set for the medical system. “I am proud of the significant growth and accomplishments that the medical system has made while I have been here. Leading UMMS has been a great honor for me,” he says. “My desire to devote more time to other interests led me to begin transition planning with the UMMS Board earlier this year.”
“Ed Notebaert is an exceptional leader with an unwavering commitment to health care innovation. Under his vision and leadership the past five years, the medical system has grown stronger, resulting in enhanced facilities and expanded programs to serve more families throughout the state,” says John C. Erickson, chairman of the UMMS board of directors and chief executive officer of Erickson Retirement Communities.
“Ed Notebaert produced a remarkable record of success for UMMS, with significant growth of market share and revenues achieved through improved operations and selective acquisitions and affiliations. These accomplishments are even more impressive when you consider the challenging health care environment in recent years,” Erickson says.
With Notebaert at the helm, medical system patient admissions grew 34 percent, from 62,393 to 83,731, and net income almost tripled, from $28 million to $80 million. In addition, all three bond rating agencies recently affirmed UMMS’ current “A” rating.
Notebaert improved the oversight of the UMMS board by adding committees on quality and patient safety, information technology, major capital projects, minority business enterprises and investments. He also championed UMMS’ efforts to use information technology to enhance the patient experience, strengthen patient safety and support clinical research and education.
Notebaert has also been instrumental in enhancing the scope and quality of health care services available to the citizens and communities of the Eastern Shore. In July 2006, Shore Health System (SHS) joined the medical system. SHS owns and operates Memorial Hospital located in Easton, Md., and Dorchester General in Cambridge, Md. A major expansion of the emergency department at Memorial Hospital was completed in fiscal 2008, and new ambulatory care facilities will be added in fiscal 2009.
In July 2008, Chester River Health System, a third hospital on the Eastern Shore, joined UMMS. The medical system also reached agreement with Queen Anne’s County officials to build a freestanding emergency department in Grasonville, Md. The new center is expected to open in fiscal year 2010.
Baltimore Washington Medical Center’s new, $117 million inpatient tower will open in 2009 and the hospital’s expanded emergency department has just been completed. Construction of a new, $57 million replacement building at Maryland General Hospital will house operating rooms, intensive care units, laboratories and other programs. The building is slated to open in 2010. Design and construction is underway for expansion and infrastructure upgrades of the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center.
In 2006, Notebaert negotiated an affiliation with The Johns Hopkins Health System to share ownership of Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. In an unprecedented collaboration, Maryland’s two academic medical systems agreed to share a 50 percent interest in the Baltimore-based specialty care and rehabilitation hospital for infants and children with complex medical needs.
Notebaert’s focus on health care quality and safety, as well as patient satisfaction, is evident in numerous national quality awards for medical system hospitals. These include the University of Maryland Medical Center’s recognition by the Leapfrog Group for two consecutive years as one of the nation’s best hospitals for quality care and recognition as a Thomson Top 100 Hospital for Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success. Baltimore Washington Medical Center was named as a top 100 hospital by Solucient and scored quality awards in six different clinical areas from Premier/Care Sciences and the Healthgrades Company. Maryland General Hospital also was named a top 200 Care Science Hospital.
Under Notebaert’s tenure, the medical system and the University of Maryland School of Medicine recruited many leading physicians, including Kevin J. Cullen, M.D., who heads the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center.
The medical system’s funding of the University of Maryland School of Medicine soared from $43 million to more than $68 million over the past five years. “Ed’s commitment to patient care, research and education is unparalleled, and he will continue to have a significant impact long after he retires,” says Erickson.
Notebaert formerly headed the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Health System and enabled it to become one of the most preeminent children's health care organizations in the world. Prior to his work at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Notebaert held top executive positions with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Hospital and developed a large multi-hospital system in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.
###