Michael Wagner, president and CEO of the Tufts Medical Center Physicians Organization, was named interim chief medical officer for Tufts Medical Center after his predecessor Eric Beyer resigned on Sept. 17.
According to Media Relations Specialist at Tufts Medical Center Jeremy Lechan, Beyer held the CEO position for two years before leaving to pursue other opportunities. Immediately after Beyer announced his decision to leave Tufts Medical, Wagner was appointed to fill the position.
It just seemed like it was the most appropriate natural progression, Lechan said. He has a wealth of experience both [in] a management capacity and as a physician. Hes had progressively more responsibility within our organization? it made sense that he was the top executive and the person with the most experience.
As CEO, Wagner hopes to expand Tufts Medicals market share by strengthening relationships with physicians in the community. Therefore, doctors will send their patients to the Center for tertiary care, or special consultant care on referral from a primary or secondary doctor. He would also like to pursue more hospital affiliations that are mutually beneficial for Tufts Medical Center and community hospital centers.
Hospitals today are complicated places and there are a lot of changes occurring in terms of the way were paid, accountabilities, reporting and the increased focus on reporting our quality results, Wagner said. All those clinical operational issues are a major focus of the work I do every day.
Wagner started at Tufts Medical in 2008 as Chief of Internal Medicine and Adult Primary Care and an Associate Professor of Medicine, he said.
He believes his understanding of financial operations, the full range of services the Tufts Medical provides and the process of running a complicated organization will help him significantly in this new role.
The search for a permanent CEO has not yet begun, as the Board of Trustees of the Medical Center hopes to focus on current strategic initiatives instead, Lechan said.
There is no imminent plan to replace [Wagner], Lechan said. There is no doubt among anyone that hell do an excellent job.
While the university and Tufts Medical Center are independent entities, Tufts Medical is the universitys valued partner in training the next generation of doctors, University President Anthony Monaco told the Daily in an e-mail.
We envision a future of continued collaboration between our two-world class institutions, he wrote.
Wagner has been President and CEO of Tufts Medical Physicians Organization since September of last year, a role also previously held by Beyer before his promotion, according to Lechan.
Since Wagner still maintains this former position, he will ultimately have to make a decision between his Tufts Medical Physicians Organization job and his work as the CEO of Tufts Medical.
He cant continue to do both of those jobs forever, Lechan said.
Wagner explained that he hopes to make a decision within the next three months. In the meantime, he said, he has a counsel of three chairs to help him manage the work of both roles.
Although it is not the largest hospital in its market area, Tufts Medical is considered to be a value provider in the marketplace, Wagner said.
Were the number one academic medical center nationally in terms of the [cost] efficiency in care that we provide, according to the University HealthSystem Consortium, he said.
Wagner noted that, when patients need heart transplants, they come to Tufts more frequently than to any other medical center in New England.
Monaco said he is confident that Wagner will be a good leader for the center.
Michael Wagner is a respected physician and skilled administrator who has the medical knowledge, business expertise and commitment needed to ensure continued progress for the Tufts Medical Center at this time, Monaco said.
