The University of Toledo Medical Center is considering creation of a not-for-profit organization that would allow it to invest in for-profit joint ventures, a common practice among academic medical centers as they search for new revenue sources.
The proposed entity would be called University of Toledo Health and would include a board that is likely to consist of trustees from the university as well as senior leadership at the medical center, said UTMC CEO Dave Morlock.
“We must be one of the last places getting into this space,” Morlock said in an interview.
Ohio and other states prohibit public universities from holding equity in for-profit entities, so it's not uncommon for academic medical centers to create freestanding not-for-profit organizations for that purpose. The concept was introduced last week to the clinical affairs committee of the university board of trustees.
If approved by the university's board of trustees, the organization would not change the governance of the medical center. Bylaws will be drafted to describe the proposed organization's structure and governance and are expected to be presented to the clinical affairs committee within 90 days.
UTMC doesn't have any deals imminent, Morlock said. The organization isn't necessary for medical startup investment—the University of Toledo already owns Rocket Innovations, a not-for-profit subsidiary that allows it to provide seed money and early stage venture capital funds for startup companies, he said.
Though it's not yet clear what it will cost to form the not-for-profit, Morlock said he doesn't expect it to be particularly expensive.
“It's too early to talk money, but it's not a significant amount of money,” Morlock said.
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