New name selected for U-M academic medical center

Michigan Medicine is the new name of the University of Michigan’s academic medical center, a change that better reflects its mission and takes into account recent organizational changes, including the appointment of a single leader. Marschall S. Runge now serves as dean of the Medical School, executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of Michigan Medicine.

“Though our name has changed, we remain committed to extraordinary patient care, world-class medical education and moving groundbreaking research from bench to bedside in order to save and improve lives,” Runge explained. “We are also focused on being an employer of choice for faculty and staff.”

When the University of Michigan Board of Regents approved the combined role for Runge in 2016, U-M leaders stressed that putting Runge in charge of both the medical school and hospital operations would increase collaboration between professionals in the academic medical center. The name change is a natural followup to these efforts, Runge said, adding that recruiting the best faculty and successfully attracting research dollars is key to delivering cutting-edge health care. Making sure the institution allows for seamless, integrative collaboration is key to the future.

“As we minimize operational redundancies and increase greater cohesiveness between units, patients should only see better patient care — which remains our top priority,” Runge said.