UI Health Care will change its leadership structure on Feb. 15, 2016.

The new leadership structure will combine two existing positions, those of University of Iowa vice president for medical affairs and dean of the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, into a single position.

The current vice president for medical affairs, Jean E. Robillard, M.D., will assume this new combined role. He has served as vice president for medical affairs for more than eight years, previously serving as dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine.

Debra A. Schwinn has served as dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, since November 2012. She will become the associate vice president for medical affairs, a new role that will be focused on special projects that will foster stronger alignment of the organization’s clinical and educational missions.

Robillard stated, "Rapid and constant changes in health care have made this organizational change an imperative. We must become even more tightly aligned if we are to succeed in the face of so many environmental factors, and be able to readily respond to opportunities."

"This leadership change represents UI Health Care’s ongoing commitment to excellence in its missions of patient care, innovative research, and educating the next generation of health care professionals for Iowa communities," said Barry Butler, Ph.D., UI executive vice president and provost. “It also enables the university to benefit from the skills of these uniquely talented individuals for the foreseeable future.”

The new leadership structure is anticipated to enable greater faculty participation in organizational direction-setting, while also enhancing efficiency.

University of Iowa Health Care is the state’s only comprehensive academic medical center, dedicated to providing world-class health care and health-related outreach services to all Iowans. Based in Iowa City, UI Health Care includes University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Hospitals,” recognized by Forbes as No. 12 in its 2015 “best employers” list, and winner of the 2014 Magnet Prize for Nursing. University of Iowa Children’s Hospital is the only hospital in Iowa nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the country’s “Best Children’s Hospitals.” 

UI Health Care also includes the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, known for curricular innovation and breakthrough research, and University of Iowa Physicians, the state’s largest multi-specialty physician group practice, with more than 1,400 physicians, residents, and fellows. UI Health Care is a founding member of the UI Health Alliance, formed in 2012 to advance high-quality health care with hospitals and clinics throughout Iowa and contiguous communities.