LSU Health Shreveport Chancellor Dr. Guzick lays the foundation for a bright future

Special to 318 Forum

Beginning a new career chapter, especially one that you had not envisioned for yourself, has proved to be just what the doctor ordered for David Guzick, MD, PhD, who has found a renewed sense of purpose since coming out of retirement and stepping into the role as chancellor of LSU Health Shreveport.

He was content with his life’s work, which included being publicly recognized by the University of Florida president for bringing together the UF Hospital and six health sciences colleges as a functionally integrated academic health center, resulting in transformative improvements in patient care quality, NIH funding, educational innovation and a dramatic expansion in education, research and clinical facilities.

An article about Guzick published by The Gainesville Sun noted that he has been called “a Renaissance man of the health care world.” His background as a clinical reproductive endocrinologist, researcher, educator and author with a Ph.D. in economics has provided him with the experience, insight and unique qualifications to succeed in major administrative roles. Prior to his role at the University of Florida, Guzick served as the dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester.

When given the opportunity to be considered for the position of chancellor at LSU Health Shreveport, Guzick found himself intrigued and agreed to go through the interview process. He quickly connected with the vision of LSU President William F. Tate IV, who was also relatively new in his role.

Guzick quickly recognized the undeniable desire to once again contribute to the success of an organization, and in this case, two organizations, as the LSUHS chancellor also plays a vital role in Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport (OLHS), a 50:50 clinical partnership staffed by LSUHS faculty physicians.

Dr. Guzick officially began his role as chancellor of LSU Health Shreveport on January 9, 2023. While significant changes have been made over the past two years at the health sciences center, the mission has remained the same: “to teach, heal and discover, in order to advance the well-being of the State, region, and beyond.”

Teach

When it comes to education at LSUHS, Guzick recognized that the School of Graduate Studies and School of Allied Health Professions programs were in good shape but knew that intense focus was needed in the educational program at the School of Medicine. President Tate explained to Guzick in advance of his appointment that this program would remain fully accredited but be placed on probation based on an April 2022 survey by the Liaison Committee of Medical Education (LCME).

Working together with the medical school dean, Dr. David Lewis, a new senior associate dean for medical education, Kelly Pagidas, MD, was hired. Given the LCME findings and the timing of its planned return visit, it was understood that the entire educational program at the School of Medicine — its content, sequence, instruction methods and student support services – needed to be completely revamped before the start of the next entering class.

Working tirelessly with faculty, staff and students, Dr. Pagidas met the moment and created a new curriculum that was unanimously approved by the School’s Curriculum Committee.

Launched in July 2023, the revamped curriculum was in place for only one year before the most recent student surveys were completed in the spring of 2024.

It was extremely gratifying for all involved in the educational program that student satisfaction scores improved markedly in all areas.

Moreover, there is palpable excitement and engagement among students and faculty.

While we cannot predict with certainty that the probationary status of the medical school will be removed, we are confident that the data received by LCME proves that significant progress has been made to date and will continue as the goal is to not only get off probation but to become a national model in physician education.

Heal

In terms of the clinical enterprise, Guzick immediately started early morning meetings three times a week that included the leadership of both LSUHS and OLHS. The purpose of these ongoing meetings is to enhance the patient experience and outcomes requiring focused and immediate attention on both short and longerterm, strategic nature. Simultaneously, he communicated his belief that LSUHS should be “Aiming High,” recognizing the immense talent, positive trajectory of research funding and the inherent opportunity of being the only academic health center in a 150-mile radius.

Guzick immediately began a monthly Aiming High newsletter shared with students, faculty and staff of LSUHS as well as with Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport employees. Each month an individual or process that resulted in extraordinary outcomes is characterized in an effort to recognize and inspire excellence.

Discover

Dr. Guzick developed a strategy that would drive external research funding, which is required to bolster LSU Health Shreveport’s academic stature. He quickly established two strategic and competitive intramural grants awarded bi-annually to LSUHS faculty with the purpose of strengthening their NIH grant applications.

In addition, he created a mission-based budget for the research office and carved out funds from the LSUHS budget and Foundation resources that could be used to recruit and retain prominent faculty researchers, a key aspect of the plan for research growth. The initiation of a recruitment program will result in more than doubling the number of funded investigators at LSUHS over the next five years.

With more people comes the need for more space. An internal analysis revealed that LSUHS would run out of research space in the next 18-24 months based on the current recruitment trajectory. Guzick created a strategy to fast-track new research space without the use of state capital outlay funds. The solution was the purchase of an abandoned Sears property at Mall St. Vincent located less than a half-mile from the main campus by the LSUHS Foundation, which will in turn convert the space to house research laboratories that will be leased to LSUHS.

While change is rarely easy and often questioned or resisted, Guzick remains steadfast in his belief and efforts to create a fully integrated academic health center for North Louisiana and position LSU Health Shreveport as a national model for how to become a destination for health care in the region, raise the standard of medical education, and grow research funding, all of which will enhance the status of the institution while driving critical economic development.