The mess with Kansas University Medical Center, KU Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital continues to sizzle. It appears KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, KU Medical Center Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Atkinson and new KU Provost Richard Lariviere are intent on doing whatever they can to weaken KU’s interests in favor of bowing to St. Luke’s wishes.

The latest evidence of this is the question of how to fill the vacancy that will be created by Irene Cumming’s decision to resign as president and CEO of the KU Hospital.

Cumming has done a superb job leading the hospital. In fact, her success since 1996 has attracted national recognition. When she resigned, she said she had a superior team of senior hospital leaders who she was confident could and would continue to build the hospital’s strength and excellence.

A few days ago, the hospital’s board considered how best to replace Cumming. Cumming and most board members favored filling the vacancy soon with a permanent appointment. Cumming recommended one of her senior staff members, saying she was confident her choice for the position would do an excellent job.

Several hospital board members indicated they wanted to appoint an interim CEO to serve while they launch a nationwide search for a permanent replacement for Cumming.

Such a search likely would take six months to a year, or possibly longer, and it would be at least a year before a permanent CEO takes over at KU Hospital.

Board members who favored the selection of a permanent president and/or CEO at this time do not want to lose the momentum and expertise Cumming has generated. They believe current senior staff members know the hospital, have the expertise, know the challenges and opportunities and are eager to help build and guide the hospital. They also enjoy the recommendation of one of the nation’s best hospital administrators, Irene Cumming.

Individuals close to the scene say it would be “a crime” to fill the vacancy with a temporary CEO. They say it is likely members of the senior team and others at the hospital would resign under such a scenario. They claim the hospital would lose its forward momentum and that there isn’t time to take a year or more to find someone who “might” turn out to be a good replacement for Cumming.

These same observers say the abilities, talents, commitment and vision of several of Cumming’s senior administrators – the “inside” candidates – are a known factor while there is no way of knowing the abilities and performance of an “outside” candidate until he or she has been on the job for some time. Job resumes and recommendations do not always tell the whole story.

There’s another important factor.

Those most adamant in favoring a national search and appointing an interim CEO – Hemenway, Atkinson and Lariviere – are the same people who are equally adamant in favoring a plan that would weaken the position of the hospital CEO by placing more control of the hospital under Atkinson’s office. The majority of the board, however, backs Cumming in her desire to safeguard the hospital by putting one of her current colleagues into the CEO’s office.

A vote on the matter, along with a discussion of the affiliation agreement with St. Luke’s, is scheduled for Tuesday. It is important for the future strength, safety and excellence of the hospital that a permanent CEO and president be named at this time. Any effort to delay the action by having a national search is merely a stalling tactic to find an administrator who will agree to the St. Luke’s giveaway and, in the process, weaken KU Hospital.

¢Switching to another facet of the hospital mess, it is hoped that before any final OK is given to the St. Luke’s plan that the specific written proposal, not a “concept,” will be provided to the Kansas Board of Regents, state legislators and all members of the hospital and medical school staffs for study and comment.

This is a terribly important decision, particularly in light of the continued give-away efforts by Hemenway and Atkinson.