About the HSC
Senior Vice President Health Affairs - Douglas J. Barrett, M.D.
Dr. Barrett is the chief administrative and executive officer for the University of Florida Health Science Center. The Office of the Senior Vice President is responsible for supporting the activities and maximizing the performance of the educational, research, and clinical programs of the Health Science Center. The Office strives to promote collaboration, interdisciplinary initiatives, shared services and economies of scale, while fostering the academic and professional strengths and distinctiveness of the Health Science Center colleges.
The Senior Vice President, Health Affairs is responsible for an $850 million enterprise encompassing several missions across many locations. He is a member of the UF President’s Cabinet and Vice Chairman of the Shands HealthCare Board of Directors providing leadership and direction in setting strategic priorities for the Health Science Center.
The View From Here
Dr. Barrett publishes a column directed towards employees of the Health Science Center. “The View From Here” presents his thoughts on issues, events and activities as well as the overall strategic direction of the HSC.
Message from Dr. Barrett
Dr. Barrett Welcome to the University of Florida Health Science Center.
From the time of the Health Science Center’s founding in 1956, the result of an effort led by UF president and HSC namesake J. Hillis Miller, we have operated as an integrated academic enterprise. President Miller and the visionary leaders he recruited sought to create something unique for its time – a single campus dedicated to training a variety of professionals side by side to safeguard the health of the citizens of Florida.
Over the past 50 years, many other academic health centers have adopted this model. But few have become as comprehensive and well integrated as our Health Science Center that includes six celebrated colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health & Health Professions and Veterinary Medicine. The following are a few of our most distinguishing characteristics:
- We produce more health professionals for the state of Florida than any other institution, including nurses and doctors, physician assistants, veterinarians, dentists, pharmacists and a range of public health and allied health professionals and biomedical scientists. They make up a large segment – and many of the leaders – of Florida’s past, present and future health-care workforce.
- Our educational and research activities are at the forefront of science, therefore we are able to offer our patients – whether it’s the tiniest infant in our neonatal unit or a 16-hand thoroughbred in our veterinary hospital – the very latest in health care. In particular, our affiliation with Shands HealthCare in Gainesville and Jacksonville truly reflects our commitment to “the science of hope.”
- We are capitalizing on our size, scope and interdisciplinary culture to systematically attack some of Florida’s greatest health-care challenges. UF is investing enormous resources in infrastructure and programs that are helping us understand cancer, aging, neurological diseases, the genetic underpinnings of disease and threats from emerging pathogens, to name a few areas of focus.
- The Health Science Center has become a biotechnology proving ground,producing patented inventions, spinning off biomedical companies and licensing beneficial technologies to private enterprise. The HSC, which contributes significantly to UF’s top 10 national ranking in patent production, is in the vanguard of what will become a pillar of Florida’s 21st century economy.
In short, the UF Health Science Center is “all about health.” We appreciate your interest, and we invite you take advantage of the many services and programs described throughout our Web site.
Douglas J. Barrett, M.D.
Senior Vice President, Health Affairs
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