Get to know Fred Frank

Fred Frank, associate chief medical officer at the downtown campus, explains his role and an update on the integration of the downtown campus.

Frederick Frank, DO, associate chief medical officer at the downtown campus, credits the resiliency of downtown campus staff and providers, coupled with the level of care and detail to attention of UI Health Care leaders, as the drivers of transition success to date. He recently shared a little more about his role, his insights about the transition, and a glimpse into his life at home. 

Can you tell me a little more about your role and the work you do? 

I am currently the associate chief medical officer for the downtown campus; previously at Mercy Iowa City, I was the chief medical officer. My job is essentially the same as it was before the transition—I am responsible for the medical operations of the downtown campus, overseeing quality and ensuring things continue to operate smoothly. Additionally, I attend a fair number of meetings about the integration, as well as the search for our new downtown campus administrator. My clinic work involves an outpatient psychiatry practice and hospitalist work. 

It’s been a few months now since Mercy Iowa City transitioned to become a part of University of Iowa Health Care. From your perspective, how is it going? 

First and foremost, the university has been very, very good to work with. Everyone I have encountered is enthusiastic and very motivated to make this work. I am so impressed with the level of care and detail they have put into this transition. That said, it is going to be a slow process. We are still in the beginning stages and trying to gain a deeper understanding of how each hospital does things; and how best to go about integrating. Everyone at both the downtown campus and the university campus have stayed very positive and are working hard to make forward progress, which is encouraging. 

The downtown campus is in a unique situation in that there are both employed medical staff and independent providers working at the hospital, which is different than the model used at the university. What are some of the advantages of having a model with both employed and independent providers on staff? 

It is a model that we always worked under at Mercy Iowa City, and I think one of the biggest benefits is that it adds to the diversity of our medical staff. We are able to attract providers who prefer to be independent, and that gives patients more of a choice. I also think that sense of competition, in some areas, is useful in ensuring all providers are doing their very best to attract patients and provide the best quality care. 

What are some obstacles you’ve faced during the integration? 

Using separate electronic medical record (EMR) systems was one of the biggest hindrances to being able to fully integrate and operate as one health care system. I also think the university is still learning our capabilities and processes at the downtown campus. Once there is a greater understanding of our expertise, coupled with aligning all of our processes and using Epic, it will become clearer what focus we will take at the downtown campus.

The providers and staff at the downtown campus have been through a lot of ups and downs over the past few years. What would you say to them, now that you’re on the other side of the transition? 

The thing that immediately comes to mind is to commend them on their resiliency. Our providers and staff have faced some challenges, but we also demonstrated a great deal of resiliency. Sure, we had a few folks decide to go their own way. But there is a dedicated, resilient group of people at this hospital who have chosen to stay through the bumpy road of the bankruptcy and through the transition to UI Health Care because they want to be here, practicing at this hospital, providing care in this setting to this community. And it’s important to note that we kept hiring throughout it all, even as we were preparing to transition—we still had providers and staff deciding this was a place they wanted to be.

Would you tell us more about your background and life at home? 

I grew up in Connecticut and did my undergrad at a small college in Pennsylvania. I spent some time in Dayton, Ohio, before making my way to Des Moines University for osteopathic medical school. I then did my residency in internal medicine and psychiatry at UI Health Care. I practiced in Cedar Rapids for a number of years and then went to a hospitalist program, also in Cedar Rapids. I also spent some time at Henry County Health Center. A few years ago, I saw the opportunity to join Mercy Iowa City. I have lived in the Iowa City area since residency and have enjoyed living in this community. 

I have a daughter going into her last year of college, and another daughter who is finishing her sophomore year at West High School. So the little free time we have, we focus on our daughters and getting them through school. We also have two extremely affectionate Bullmastiffs— one is 120 pounds and the other 160! They’re wonderful family dogs.