A move initiated by office space renovations turned into a full-time relocation for Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, chief executive officer of the University of Michigan Health System.
Pescovitz has moved her office and four staff members from Medical Science Research I on the main medical campus to the ex-Pfizer complex U-M has developed as the North Campus Research Complex in north Ann Arbor.
University of Michigan Health System CEO Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz speaks at an event in 2011.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com file photo
Pescovitz’s office was undergoing renovations in July and so she moved to NCRC then, said Pete Barkey, director of public relations for the University of Michigan Health System.
Space constraints in the core area of the medical campus were a factor in Pescovitz’s office move, Barkey said. The move means UMHS staff more directly involved with patient care than Pescovitz can be more centrally located, Barkey said.
“It just made sense from a space-use standpoint,” Barkey said. “(Pescovitz) runs the medical school and the health system, which NCRC is a part of.”
Pescovitz’s office is now in Building 18, the same as David Canter, executive director of NCRC.
The NCRC location is isolated from the main medical campus.
It's also separate from Doug Strong, CEO of U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, who has an office in a UMHS building on North Ingalls Drive.
Pescovitz moved her office prior to a December email to her entire staff telling them the Health System needed to cut more of its costs because its revenue was coming up short in covering its expenses.
Office space at NCRC is in high demand, according to institutes that have recently moved their offices to the complex.
U-M officials acknowledged they took a risk in turning the NCRC from a vacant ex-Pfizer space to a multimillion dollar research hub, but said they're now turning their focus to making the most of the opportunity that they're presented with in the NCRC.
In a July interview with AnnArbor.com, James Woolliscroft, dean of U-M's Medical School, said NCRC's layout allows U-M faculty and administrators to "think differently."
"Space wasn't a limiting factor. When space is the limiting factor then you're very reluctant to use it for more experimental relationships and collaborations," Woolliscroft said in July. "In some ways it’s the coffee pot. [NCRC] is allowing people to bump into one another."
The NCRC space is helping them poach top talent from competing research institutions, the most recent of which includes Harvard University.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.