HEALTH PARKLAND HOSPITAL: LOVE IT, DON’T LEAVE IT

Some people are going to think Ron Anderson is crazy. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Parkland Memorial Hospital, was recently offered a job as the president of The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. The new post would more than double his current salary of $175,000 and give him the use of an $800,000 house with maids, servants, and a car-not to mention a $30 million seed grant that Anderson could use to develop any programs he wanted. But Anderson turned it down.

Anderson, a brash defender of public medicine, has had his ups and downs since joining Parkland in 1982. He’s been investigated by the DA and the IRS for making political contributions from hospital funds and financial mismanagement, and Parkland has been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency because large quantities of drugs could not be accounted for. Both he and the hospital were cleared, but his life is still made gut-wrenchingly difficult by myriad problems, including frequent wrangles with the Dallas County Commissioners Court. So, given a chance at a quiet, cushy university job, why didn’t he take it?

For one thing, Anderson wanted to honor his handshake agreement with Paul Bass, immediate past chairman of the board of managers of the Dallas County Hospital District. But his main concern, as always, is to ensure quality health care for Parkland’s mostly low-income patients. “Last year’s budget was pretty contentious,” he says, “and this one will be even tougher. It has to be done with care, to limit the impact on our patients. I can do that, whereas another person might not be able to.” He also cites his pet projects: the Community Oriented Primary Care clinics he wants to establish in medically underserved neighborhoods, and the University Medical Hospital being built in conjunction with The UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Still, Bass expects Anderson to someday reach for bigger things. “I envision him moving one day to the national scene. He has the background and the mental capability to be the surgeon general.”