Reflecting on First Month at CUMC, Hogarty Discusses Future

For Lisa Hogarty, taking over as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Columbia University Medical Center last December meant much more than attending fewer student functions than she was involved with as Columbia University’s vice president for student services at the Morningside campus.

The days have “gone by at light speed,” Hogarty said. “The pace at this campus is much different than at Morningside. The day starts at 7 a.m. because doctors start early ... it’s more business-like. Researchers may get offended at that, but the work is changing the world, and the quality of the research and the quality of the patient care is world-class.”

As COO of the Medical Center, Hogarty deals with plenty of students, administrators, and researchers from two campuses at a distance 50 blocks away from each other in aiding to corral the four schools which compose the Medical Center and its $1.5 billion annual budget. As the world’s first academic medical center, however, much effort has to be devoted to keeping the institution on the cutting edge.

“One of my biggest concerns is the level of maintenance and housekeeping, which has been subpar, to say the least, so we’re really focusing directly on our service delivery around housekeeping requests and maintenance requests,” Hogarty said.

She cited Hammer Library as one example. While the library is open seven days a week, it is only cleaned five days, a problem Hogarty said she is trying to solve immediately.
Facilities plans call for a new education center in the two lower levels of Hammer Library, 20 new classrooms, and new study spaces. Hogarty called the classrooms her first priority, adding that many of which have not been upgraded in a very long time.

Student complaints run the gamut from concerns about the campus gym to a shortage in lab space, according to second-year School of Public Health student senator Patrick Callahan, who says that meeting with Hogarty has helped to alleviate some of his issues with facilities at CUMC.

”We can expect substantial imminent progress,” Callahan said. “Even though most of us will be gone by the time the problems are wholly addressed, it is a relief to know the administration is actually addressing them. That’s surprising news to most of us.”

Two major technology projects, the implementation of an electronic health record on a much larger scale than at the Morningside campus and new software to manage clinical trials will be executed under the new COO’s reign.

Hogarty, who has experience at Four Seasons Hotels and several hospitals throughout New York City, also stressed improving student living conditions. About recent Ruggles upgrades, she said, “that was a really good, well thought-out plan. That has not really existed up here so we’re going to put that together.”

Still, it took time adjusting to an academic institution as complex as Columbia. “Now, I feel I have this hybrid experience of both higher education and health care which is serving me really well in this role,” Hogarty said.

“She brings a lot of credibility to the Med Center because people are familiar with her successes at Morningside,” said Amador Centeno, associate vice president of facilities at CUMC, who worked with her at Beth Israel and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospitals and reports to Hogarty now. “She was able to learn and ingrain herself in the Columbia culture, and helped to transform the culture at Morningside.”

In addition, she brings along a profusion of memories from her six eventful years at Morningside, from handling everything from student protests to overseeing new ID cards.

“My proudest achievement was really transforming commencement,” Hogarty said. “It used to be a very long, somewhat tired, uncelebratory event. And now, it’s almost like a rock concert. We’ve squeezed over 40,000 guests into the South Fields and Low
Plaza and from all things I hear from students they just love the event.”

After having muddled through Columbia’s governmental structures, Hogarty says that constant evaluation and improvement of services is critical in successfully serving students.

“When Lisa arrived at CU a lot of people went to great lengths to tell her what cannot be done here and thankfully she ignored their advice and throughout her tenure repeatedly proved them wrong,” said Scott Wright, Columbia’s director of housing and dining. “She taught all of us to not accept limits on our goals and services, and to expect a lot from ourselves.”

Hogarty has plans for addressing CUMC’s reputation as well. One major goal she cited was to bring Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons back into the Top 5 of US News and World Report’s medical school rankings.

At the moment, though, there is much to appreciate about her everyday life at CUMC, breakneck pace and all.

“The thing that’s so impressive to me is the pace of discoveries that come out of this campus. ... It seems that every other week we’re on the front page of the science section of the New York Times,” Hogarty said. “The caliber of faculty is just unmatched. And because of that, the future just looks incredible.”

sandeep.soman@columbiaspectator.com.