UNM Health Sciences chief ousted amid call for faster progress

The leader of the University of New Mexico Health System is out after less than four years in the job.

UNM President Garnett Stokes announced in a letter circulated Wednesday that she made the “strategic leadership change” to replace Dr. Douglas Ziedonis “given the evolving direction required for our Health Sciences initiatives,” according to a news release. Ziedonis had served as executive vice president and UNM Health System CEO since Dec. 1, 2020.

Dr. Mike Richards, senior vice president for clinical affairs, immediately assumes the position of interim CEO and interim executive vice president for health sciences, the letter said.

Stokes told the Albuquerque Economic Forum on Wednesday morning that the UNM Health System needs to add hospital staff and expand the UNM School of Medicine. She said the hospital is expecting a significant increase in hospital admissions in the future.

“It is a time when we absolutely must accelerate growth,” Stokes added.

Ziedonis, whose base salary was $777,449 a year, was terminated without cause.

“I thank Doug Ziedonis for his incredible leadership over the last three and a half years. He has been absolutely wonderful,” Stokes said. “But this is a strategic leadership decision. Because when I look at health care and what our health system needed, what New Mexico needed, I decided we had to pivot.”

“At this time, there has been no decision made on a national search,” UNM spokeswoman Cinnamon Blair said on Wednesday. Ziedonis, meanwhile, will be on professional leave until his appointment concludes on Dec. 10.

“Transitioning leadership can be challenging,” Stokes said in her letter. “But I am optimistic that this change will bring stability and renewed energy and focus to our mission. The University of New Mexico is embarking on a transformative path as we continue to explore our role in expanding access to health care to serve the entire state of New Mexico.”

Stokes noted that UNM Hospital’s critical care tower is expected to open next year.

“We’re going to need to hire 2,100 hospital staff. We’re going to have 20,000 more admissions, we’re going to be needing to have 300 School of Medicine faculty, 200 residents and (fellows). Can you imagine what that’s going to look like?

“Many of us don’t realize the extent to which we’ve been investing in understanding the gaps between what the state of New Mexico needs and what the University of New Mexico can deliver.”

Ziedonis was hired by Stokes after a 10-month national search to replace longtime Health Sciences chancellor Paul Roth. He took the reins of New Mexico’s only academic medical center while New Mexico and the country were in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ziedonis had previously been the associate vice chancellor for health sciences at the University of California San Diego. He earned his medical degree from Pennsylvania State University Medical School and his master’s from Yale University. Besides his experience at UCSD, his career has included stints at UCLA, Penn State, Rutgers University and the University of Massachusetts. He has also been on Yale’s faculty, according to a UNM news release at the time.

Ziedonis had focused the clinical side of his career on treating addiction. He is board-certified in addiction psychiatry, as well as general psychiatry, by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Richards has a background as both an administrator and physician, having served as director of the UNM Center for Disaster Medicine and Medical Director of the EMS Bureau at the New Mexico Department of Health. He is also a professor and former chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and former Chief of Staff at UNM Hospital.