OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

 

Je | Stanford University Medical Center

 

February 11, 1997

Professor Joshua Lederberg

The Rockefeller University

1230 York Avenue

New York, New York 10021-6399

Dear Josh,

| enjoyed reading the “Undiscovered Country” very much. Thanks for
thinking of me. My own novel about the war period has languished for lack of
time. It needs work. Arthur Kornberg is encouraging me to get it done and has
even suggested a good title for it, “Salonica.”

But | have been distracted lately by concerns over the merger wave that
has overtaken teaching hospitals, including Stanford and UCSF. The chronic,
chaotic state of health care is sending academic leaders searching for a
treatment. They found it in mergers, a trend that is underexamined and may not
provide the hoped for benefits. In Stanford’s case, the cure may prove worse
than the disease, and require subtle post-traumatic care. This is especially true
after press revelations that UC regents, prior to their merger decision held a
secret meeting with UC’s auditors who told them that UC had overstated the
clinical earnings of its faculty by $100 million. That information apparently was
withheld from our trustees.

Stanford does need a clinical partner, not another money losing
operation. | am enclosing a reprint of “The Folly of Teaching-Hospital Mergers”
which was published in the NEJM is case you haven't seen it. While | try to keep
an open mind on mergers, the prognosis is uncertain.

Sincerely,

© ZZ of

/
Spyros Andreopoulos

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