A growing UI Health Care appoints new strategy officers

IOWA CITY — As University of Iowa Health Care expands it facilities and footprint, and by extension services across Iowa and beyond, administrators want to be strategic in the growth — creating new leadership roles to shepherd the organization’s evolution.

UI Department of Pathology Chair Nitin Karandikar in June was appointed as UIHC’s first enterprise chief strategy officer — a “newly defined role” in which he’ll be “shaping and driving the long-term strategic direction across UI Health Care’s clinical, research, and education missions.”

Reporting directly to Vice President for Medical Affairs and Carver College of Medicine Dean Denise Jamieson, Karandikar will take a “holistic, forward-looking view while setting UI Health Care’s strategic priorities in the context of its mission, vision, and position in Iowa’s evolving health care landscape,” according to a news release.

“I am delighted that Dr. Karandikar has agreed to take on this important new role in championing an integrated approach to enterprise strategic planning,” Jamieson said. “At this pivotal moment in the transformation of our academic health system, the work of the enterprise chief strategy officer will drive coordination, accountability, execution, and overall performance for the organization across our tripartite mission.”

In developing a strategic implementation plan, performance goals, and metrics for the tripartite mission — including patient care, medical education, and biomedical research — Karandikar will work closely with another new strategic officer chosen from inside UIHC to take on additional duties.

‘An expansion of duties’

Longtime UIHC Associate Vice President for Legal Affairs Joseph Clamon last year was appointed clinical chief strategy officer after stepping in on an interim basis in 2023, following the departure of former UIHC Chief Strategy Officer Tim Kan to University of California San Francisco Health.

Kan had been hired in 2019 following a national search, but UIHC didn’t conduct a search for his successor or the new strategy officer position Karandikar stepped into.

UI policy requires a search for positions that are more than half-time and extend for more than a year, in compliance with equal employment opportunity procedures. In some circumstances, the university can skip a search if administrators fill out a waiver explaining why — like a spousal hire or a “uniquely qualified” candidate.

In this case, the university didn’t engage in a search or fill out a waiver because both positions were seen as “an expansion of duties.”

“When our former chief strategy officer departed, his position was not filled in the same capacity,” UIHC spokeswoman Laura Shoemaker said. “Instead of posting stand-alone strategy positions, we identified opportunities for existing leaders to assume more responsibility related to strategy and growth.

“Importantly, both Karandikar and Clamon continue in their primary roles.”

With this expansion of duties, Karandikar will see his salary increase from $602,802 to $699,913. Clamon’s salary stands at $515,000, up 8 percent from $474,760 — before adding on the clinical chief strategy officer title.

“I am excited about the next phase of UI Health Care’s journey,” Karandikar said in a statement about his appointment. “As we evolve as an organization, it becomes vitally important to look at the enterprise-wide strategy across all our missions: patient care, education, and research.”

‘The best interwoven strategy’

Earning his practicing doctorate at B.J. Medical College at the University of Poona in Pune, India, and his research doctorate in immunology and molecular pathogenesis at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Karandikar completed his residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he stayed for nearly 16 years, advancing to full professor and vice chair for clinical services in the Department of Pathology.

He joined UIHC in 2013 as chair and department executive officer of the Department of Pathology — which over that span jumped 30-plus places in the National Institutes of Health funding rankings.

Karandikar also has “maintained strong educational programs for students and trainees of all levels, and fostered consistently high faculty engagement scores, above the national average,” according to UI officials, touting the department as nationally and internationally recognized for its academics and laboratory services across a variety of clinical and anatomic pathology areas.

Beyond his departmental duties, Karandikar has led institutionwide efforts like hospital financial strategy, high-level searches, and other major projects.

Of his new appointment, Karandikar said, “I am looking forward to partnering with leaders across the enterprise so that we can generate and implement the best interwoven strategy.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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