On the Move ...

David Kessler was dismissed as dean of the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, according to the university. In June, UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop asked Kessler for his resignation no later than Jan. 1, 2008, and to negotiate severance terms. But Kessler did not relinquish his position, forcing the chancellor to formally dismiss him, effective Dec. 14, the university said in a written statement. Kessler said in a written statement that he has worked over the past four years to resolve financial irregularities at the school of medicine. “I reported these issues to appropriate university officials at the time, and have endeavored to work with the university ever since to solve these problems,” Kessler said. In June, the university auditor cleared Kessler of allegations of improper spending that were made by an anonymous whistle-blower in 2005. Kessler served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997. Sam Hawgood, chairman of the UCSF Pediatrics Department and physician-in-chief of the UCSF Children’s Hospital, was named interim dean. Their ages were not available at deadline. … Gordon Williams was appointed interim CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, effective Dec. 31, the university said. Williams is leaving a job as vice dean for administration and finance at Duke University School of Medicine, vice chancellor for operations at Duke University Medical Center and vice president for administration at Duke University Health System, all in Durham, N.C. His age was unavailable at deadline. Donna Katen-Bahensky left the position earlier this month when she was named president and CEO of University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, Madison, effective Feb. 4, 2008.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, named Ralph Aleman, 61, as CEO of Hialeah (Fla.) Hospital. Aleman, formerly vice president and market leader of Tenet hospitals in Florida’s Miami, Dade and Broward counties, succeeded Ronald Bierman as Hialeah Hospital’s interim chief executive after Bierman left the company in November, said Steven Campanini, a Tenet spokesman.

Bruce Vladeck, an executive director with Ernst & Young’s health sciences advisory services division and former head of the predecessor to the CMS, was elected board president of the Medicare Rights Center, New York. He succeeds Marilyn Moon, vice president and director of the Washington-based American Institutes for Research health program. Vladeck, who has served on the Medicare Rights Center board since 1998, led the Health Care Financing Administration, now the CMS, between 1993 and 1997. Vladeck, 58, rejoined Ernst & Young in September after acting as interim president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, from March 2006 until June 2007.

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