UH medical school head reorganizes staff
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Edwin Cadman, dean of the University of Hawai'i School of Medicine, has decided not to renew the contract of his chief financial officer, Allan Robb. Cadman said he has realigned the position to make it more effective.
Robert Nobriga, a certified public accountant who headed medical school audits with the firm of Pricewaterhousecoopers since 1997, will assume the role of handling all outside contracts. He has been with the medical school for six months.
Janis Morita, who holds a master's degree in business administration and has been with the School of Ocean & Earth Science and Technology, will take over the medical school's finances.
"They're going to be working as a leadership team," Cadman said.
The personnel reshuffle will end up saving the university money. Robb earned $210,000 a year; Nobriga will make $85,152 and Morita, $52,944.
Robb left the position recently and has not returned Advertiser calls. His contract ends in January, and he will be paid through then.
Nobriga hopes to streamline the way the medical school handles contracts with Hawai'i hospitals. "I'll be negotiating the agreements with them, making sure we follow through with services," he said.
In the past, contracts between the medical school and hospitals have dragged on for years without completion, creating friction with the hospitals, Nobriga said, but with Cadman at the helm, they've been completed in a more timely fashion. Nobriga said he hopes to make that practice even smoother.
Nobriga also plans to initiate an internal audit of the school and to create a review system for all financial reports that leave the medical school.
The medical school will bring in total estimated revenues this fiscal year of $79.7 million, which is about equal to its expenditures. The goal is to increase revenues, largely by "ramping up" research, Nobriga said, and to decrease the school's reliance on state money.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
