CFO of Health Sciences Discusses How He Uses Leadership
Skills to Navigate Tough Financial Times as Part of Interview Series
Ioana Patringenaru | March 9, 2009
Thomas Jackiewicz, UC San Diego’s associate vice chancellor and chief financial officer for Health Sciences, shared his insights on leadership Wednesday.
Come to work every day believing that you can make a difference. Be curious. Be collegial and a good listener for your colleagues. These were some of the ingredients that are key to a successful career, Thomas Jackiewicz, UC San Diego’s associate vice chancellor and chief financial officer for Health Sciences, said Wednesday.
He spoke as part of the Perspectives on Leadership series offered by UC San Diego's Human Resources department. The talks are fashioned after the “Inside the Actors Studio” series offered on the Bravo network and fit squarely within UCSD’s succession planning efforts, officials said. The goal is to give participants an innovative and informative look at leadership in higher education. Associate Vice Chancellor Stacie Spector interviews the series’ guests, who talk about their careers and their experiences and share lessons they learned.
Jackiewicz is now calling on his leadership skills to lead the business-side of UCSD’s health sciences enterprise in difficult financial times. “It’s incredibly stressful,” he said, when asked by Spector how he handled this challenge.
Associate Vice Chancellor Stacie Spector interviewed Jackiewicz Wednesday at Eucalyptus Point.
He added he believes patient care will pull through, as Medi-Cal will receive a boost from the recent federal stimulus package and as Medicare remains stable. The biggest struggle will be absorbing budget cuts coming from the state, Jackiewicz said. Administrators are taking a look at their whole organization as they try to figure out how to deal with the cuts’ impact, he added.
Meanwhile, the federal stimulus package, and particularly funds earmarked for the National Institutes of Health, provide a silver lining, Jackiewicz said. He predicted the university will do well when it comes to grants and to funds for instruments. Officials also are currently weighing their options to apply for moneys that would go to refurbishing facilities or building new ones.
Right now, all beds at the Thornton and Hillcrest medical centers are occupied, so an expansion is needed, Jackiewicz said. A new cardiovascular center is under construction and set to open in 2010 on UCSD’s East Campus in La Jolla. Plans for a hospital tower with about 125 to 150 beds also on the East Campus were approved by the UC Regents in 2007. The facility is set to open in 2014. In addition, the university has made a long-term commitment to its medical center in Hillcrest and is planning renovations there, Jackiewicz said.
Grace Balch, director of Staff Education and Development, introduced the program.
The university also is working with its partners in the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine to build a four-story facility off Torrey Pines Road. Two floors will be dedicated to stem cell research and UCSD officials have expressed interest in leasing the fourth floor, Jackiewicz said.
All this is a long way from Jackiewicz’s original career as an accountant. He worked for an insurance company when he was asked to interview for a job at the University of Pennsylvania. He wasn’t really interested, but relented. He and his boss-to-be really hit it off, so he decided to give the job, and the academic world, a try, he said. He loved it, he added. When he felt ready to run a department, he moved on to Oregon Health Sciences University. He then was recruited by Stanford before coming to UCSD. His resume also includes a master’s of public health in health policy and management from Columbia University and a stint at that university’s medical center.
Mary Linn Bergstrom, head of the Science and Engineering Library, asked a question during Wednesday's talk.
Asked about the most important skills that helped him in his career, Jackiewicz said he tries every day to think about how he can make an impact on his organization. “It’s important to come in with the idea that you can make a difference in your job and think you’re going to do what it takes,” he said.
He also said he always strives to learn more on the job. While working at the University of Pennsylvania, he wanted to know more about the university’s hospital operations. He designed an independent study course of sorts, asking questions of doctors and administrators whenever he got the chance. “Take advantage of the talent that works with you,” he said.
Being good natured, being able to multi-task and listening to colleagues also is important, Jackiewicz said. Employees and peers need to feel you’ve considered their point of view, he explained.
“You can tell folks ‘no’,” he said. “It’s how you say ‘no’ that’s important.”
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