The Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science is in the process of being absorbed by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in order to increase the impact of the College’s health care research.
While the Dartmouth Center was originally founded by former College President Jim Yong Kim as a separate entity from the Dartmouth Institute — so it could focus on separate opportunities for health research — Institute director Elliott Fisher said in an email that the integration of the two programs was expected from the outset.
Fisher said he is working closely with Al Mulley, the current director of the Center, on the integration process.
The Dartmouth Center was launched in May 2010 by Kim and Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system president James Weinstein following a $35 million donation from an anonymous donor to develop the field of health care delivery science to maximize the impact of high-performing organizations. The Dartmouth Institute was founded in 1988 by Dr. John Wennberg as the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences and was renamed the Dartmouth Institute in 2007.
“The purpose of the donation was to leverage Dartmouth’s existing strengths in health care by creating new opportunities for collaboration across campus and globally,” Mulley said.
He said that he and Fisher believe that they have succeeded in this goal, and it is time for them to be integrated with the larger institute to have a greater impact and continue research.
While there will be changes to the administrative structure, Mulley said that they do not anticipate any job losses. Although there is likely to be some overlap in responsibilities between the two programs, he said there will still be enough new opportunities that they will transfer employees instead of letting staff go.
Mulley stressed that the two programs have always worked together and supported each other. Much of the original budget for the Center went to the Institute, he said.
“This isn’t a massive upheaval, this is an administrative restructuring of people who are already working together, sharing resources and creating opportunities together,” Mulley said.
Together, the two groups have been applying for research funding in several different areas that involve health care delivery science work. This funding will come from new sources that have not been readily available to the College in the past, from countries such as the United Kingdom, Peru and China, Fisher said.
“We expect that the integration will allow us to strengthen our finances, by better coordinating our efforts in grant writing, philanthropy and development of academic-industry partnerships — and by improving the efficiency of our administrative operations,” Fisher said.
The master’s program housed by the Dartmouth Center will continue in exactly the same way as before the integration and matriculate its fifth class this July.
“The master’s program is probably the best example of the new kind of collaboration that the Dartmouth Center was meant to support during its early years,” Mulley said.
He said that the master’s program has been a success, both for the College and for its participants. It has attracted students in leadership positions from across the U.S. and nine other countries, including the countries with which the Dartmouth Center will be doing applied research in the future, he said.
Mulley said that the only way health care delivery science students will be affected by the integration is by having increased opportunities for international experiences in countries such as England, Peru and Rwanda. More than 50 students have already had service learning experiences in Peru, and the Center expects to expand on that number, he said.
Marie-Anne Durand, an assistant professor at the Dartmouth Institute who is conducting research into patient engagement and decision-making, said that the integration has the potential to facilitate new collaborations and increase the Institute’s exposure and impact. She said she thinks the merge will develop a broader professional network and enable her to make more use of her colleagues’ expertise.
Samir Soneji, an assistant professor at the Dartmouth Institute who is carrying out research into cancer care and tobacco marketing, said that he believes the increased interaction between the Institute and the Center will affect his research in positive ways.
“In terms of the goals and the missions of both programs, they align very well, and, in a sense, not having them together created an unnecessary divide,” Soneji said.
