UAMS picks new CEO to run its medical center

Townsend sees opportunities at LR hospital

Friday, November 16, 2012

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences selected Dr. Roxane Townsend, anadministrator at Louisiana State University, as the new vice chancellor for clinical programs and chief executive officer of UAMS Medical Center, the school in LittleRock announced Thursday.

Townsend will replace Dick Pierson, who is retiring at the end of December. She will start her new role Feb. 1, Chancellor Dr. Dan Rahn said in an e-mail to faculty members.

Townsend will come to Arkansas at a time of greatchange in the way the state delivers health care.

UAMS is exploring a clinical partnership with St. Vincent Health System, a private Catholic hospital, to reduce costs and share services.

The state is also changing its Medicaid payment structure and working to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, largely upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court this summer.

“The structure at UAMS lends itself to real opportunities,” Townsend said. “To me this is a chance to help them navigate through health-care reform.”

Townsend was assistant vice president for Health Systems at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

In that role, she worked with the system’s 10 hospitals and their clinics in the development of strategies and system-wide policies.

She also was CEO of the Interim LSU Public Hospital in New Orleans, Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge and CEO of the LSU Health Care Services Division.

Before joining LSU in 2007, she was appointed secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Townsend has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a medical degree from LSU in New Orleans where she graduated and completed a residency in internal medicine.

“Dr. Townsend brings experience as an administrator, both of medical centers and in state health-care administration, that offers the strengthsand skills needed at UAMS going forward as we meet the challenges of coming changes in health care,” Rahn said in a statement.

“She has worked as a nurse, a physician and as a hospital administrator, which brings a unique perspective to her role as part of the UAMS mission to improve health and health care in Arkansas.”

Townsend’s annual salary will be $500,000, UAMS spokesman Leslie Taylor said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/16/2012