Both Montefiore Medical Center’s and Yeshiva University’s Boards announced today that they have voted unanimously on the basic terms of a merger between the two institutions. This announcement follows a rally that took place this morning at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where Einstein’s dean Allen Spiegel announced to two-hundred students that an agreement between Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center was renewed and close to reaching a finalized agreement.
This rally follows a meeting that was held at the Einstein campus on January 26th encouraging graduate students to urge Yeshiva University to negotiate a deal with Montefiore Medical Center in transferring the daily operations and finances of Einstein to Montefiore. Earlier, on January 3rd, the faculty senate at Einstein held a unanimous vote of no confidence in Yeshiva University.
The meeting was held in the aftermath of the news surrounding the termination of Einstein and Montefiore’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was established last July. The original MOU stated that Yeshiva University would shift financial responsibility and management of Einstein to Montefiore, including its research capabilities, but would remain the degree-granting institution of the medical school. According to the press release issued to the Observer in December, “Einstein…would cede $100 million in research debt to Montefiore.”
Upon termination of the MOU in December, there was an increased concern for many employees and students of Einstein. Primarily, the worry was that under the auspices of Alvarez and Marsal Holdings LLC, whom YU hired in order to restructure the finances of the university, many research positions without sufficient grant money would be terminated.
According to a widely-circulated student transcript of the meeting held on January 26th, the goal of the meeting was to discuss ways of increasing the pressure on Yeshiva University to finalize a deal with Montefiore. The meeting was sponsored by the MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Program, or MD/PhD program) Student Council and the Graduate (PhD) Student Council, and began with Dr. Myles Akhbas, the director of the MSTP program at Einstein, addressing the students regarding both Yeshiva University’s and Einstein’s financial deficits. Einstein itself is operating at a deficit due the building of the Price Center Research pavilion in 2008, and Dr. Akhbas stressed that although Einstein has its own endowment, it is controlled by YU, making it difficult for Einstein to manage its own debt.
It is important to note, however, that one source at Einstein expressed concern that no representation from Yeshiva University was present at this meeting to properly articulate the YU vision in detail. No one present at the meeting participated directly in the negotiations so many of the monetary figures mentioned in the transcript are unverified and uncited.
Dr. Akhbas summarized the steps Einstein has taken to protest YU’s failure in reaching an agreement with Montefiore. In December, both the MSTP and Graduate Student Councils sent a letter to the YU President and Board sharing their concerns for the future of the world-renowned research institution.
Additionally, the faculty involved government officials in their efforts to convince YU to construct a deal with Montefiore. On January 19th, the science chairs sent a letter to the New York State Attorney General and Board of Regents asking to intercede in transferring the medical school’s degree granting power to Einstein itself. The Einstein board also pressured YU via political leaders from the local and regional areas, based on the fact that Einstein is a major employer in the Bronx.
Dr. Akhbas claimed that Montefiore is prepared to accept financial responsibility of Einstein, and Montefiore CEO Steven Safyer met with the basic science chairs to confirm his support in negotiating a deal with YU. Montefiore is unwilling, however, to bail YU out of its financial debt, seeing as Einstein has its own deficit to be dealt with.
The transcript of the meeting records the speculated desire of Alvarez and Marsal to rid Einstein of its research program and cut faculty who do not have sufficient grants to pay employee salaries because they view research as the cause of Einstein’s deficits. Alvarez and Marsal would also rent out the Price Center and move faculty out of that building, closing the graduate school.
All students who were contacted directly by Observer staff regarding the meeting and the rally refused comment, indicating the gravity of the situation.
Student leaders emphasized that the purpose of the rally was not to protest against Einstein as an institution, but against YU’s obstruction of the proposed merger with Montefiore and the vision of YU’s consulting firm for the future of Einstein. Indeed, students were told to carefully consider their representation of Einstein at the rally because improper representation could affect research funding negatively as well as deter prospective applicants.
As the response to today’s rally indicates, student action and protests are clearly being taken seriously by the YU administration. The announcement today that the Yeshiva University merger with Montefiore Medical Center is in the final stages of approval will hopefully come to fruition in the coming months and ensure the future security of Einstein’s researchers and graduate students.