The University of Hawaii’s pick to lead the struggling UH Cancer Center has an impeccable record: Principal investigator on more than 140 clinical trials, expert on colon cancer, chief medical officer for cancer for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. Impressive, indeed.
It’s critical, though, that Dr. Randall F. Holcombe have strong business acumen and leadership skills — and a clear vision to revive the financially strapped Cancer Center. After all, creating and implementing a sound business plan —
the mortgage alone for its Kakaako building is $8 million annually — must be the first order of business for the center’s next director.
If the Board of Regents approves Holcombe’s appointment at its monthly meeting Thursday, he would start Sept. 1. Much is at stake — especially the UH Cancer Center’s status as one of 69 federally designated National Cancer Institute (NCI) centers. That NCI designation gives UH an edge when competing for federal funds, which the Cancer Center cannot afford to lose.
The center has been floundering for years, and lawmakers were abundantly clear in the just-ended session that they are not about to throw good money after bad. It’s lamentable, but understandable, that legislators rejected the university’s request for an additional $5 million for operations next fiscal year, citing the lack of a sustainable business plan.
The center’s financial woes date back to a faulty business plan that had assumed the university’s share of the state’s cigarette tax would remain constant at $19 million per year — a figure that has dropped to $14 million because fewer people smoke. The failure to see that downward trend as a possibility and have a backup funding source showed a lack of foresight on the part of the center’s previous leadership.
To make matters worse, UH built a $130 million facility for the Cancer Center using that outdated business plan — and is now saddled with an $8 million annual mortgage payment it cannot afford.
Former director Michele Carbone resigned in November 2014 after five years at the helm, and Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, has been serving as interim director. And UH has spent thousands of dollars commissioning at least three possible business plans, with no clear path ahead.
The latest plan suggested everything from consolidating the medical school and the cancer center’s administrative services, to leasing empty space in the center — options that must be given serious consideration. Righting the ship has remained elusive, and the Cancer Center is in desperate need of steady leadership.
On paper, at least, Holcombe looks exceedingly qualified and impressively credentialed. He currently serves as deputy director for the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, director of the Derald H. Ruttenberg Treatment Center and director of ambulatory oncology at The Mount Sinai Hospital. He also is professor of medicine in the Hematology and Medical Oncology Division at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Before joining Mount Sinai, he held several roles at the University of California at Irvine Medical Center, including associate vice chancellor for research, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and associate director of the Office of Clinical Research and Trials.
As it always is at the outset for UH’s high-profile hires, high hopes abound — on both sides. But UH’s mixed track record on top administrators in recent years has left taxpayers wary. Let’s hope Dr. Holcombe’s wealth of experience will be the right mix for the Cancer Center, which needs a director able to navigate the UH system, Legislature, academia and community to ensure the center’s prestige and financial stability.
