Forsyth leaves Medical Center for Iowa position

The University Medical Center, which has undergone significant staff reductions in the past two months, will now experience a major loss at the top.

John Forsyth, president and chief executive officer for the University Health System, announced Thursday that he is leaving the Medical Center in August to become president and CEO of IASD Health Services Corp., a company based in Des Moines, Iowa.

"It is an exciting and challenging opportunity, and one of the few jobs that could have drawn me away from the Health System," Forsyth said in a written statement. "The decision to move to Iowa was difficult in light of the many years my wife and I have spent in the University and Ann Arbor. Leaving is truly akin to moving away from a family."

Forsyth was appointed the executive director of the University's hospitals in 1985. In February 1996, the University Board of Regents authorized the creation of the University Health System and appointed Forsyth as president and CEO. The Health System consists of seven hospitals, M-CARE, a health maintenance organization and the Clinical Delivery System.

Under Forsyth's leadership, the Medical Center's reserves have exploded from zero to $700 million in 10 years. Forsyth has also been responsible for preparing the Medical Center for the challenges of the changing health care market, steering a three-year plan to trim $200 million from the Medical Center's budget.

"It has been a great privilege to serve the University for the past 26 years," Forsyth said. "It has been particularly gratifying to have been able to participate in the most dramatic transformation of any University hospital in the country."

Forsyth said he did not think any other academic health system in the nation is "better positioned to deal with the increasingly market-driven environment of health care delivery."

Many in the Medical Center were surprised by Forsyth's resignation.

"I think there's a lot of surprise in the Medical Center," said Mike Harrison, a hospital spokesperson. "He gave no indication at all that he would be leaving."

Harrison said he did not think the pressures of the Medical Center's downsizing had any affect on his decision to leave, but that it was an opportunity that he probably could not ignore.

Outgoing University President James Duderstadt said plans would be announced in the coming weeks for an interim successor to Forsyth and for a search for his replacement.

Duderstadt called Forsyth "the strongest, most capable academic health care director in the country."

"It has been an enormous pleasure to work with John Forsyth during my years as president," Duderstadt said. "Because of his foresight, we offer the people of Michigan and the entire Midwest world-class health care."

IASD Health Services Corp. works closely with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa and is the largest health insurer in Iowa and South Dakota. Forsyth is expected to assume his position as president of IASD in mid-August.

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