August 28, 2007

A Message from Dr. Bradford C. Berk

Pat Chiverton's contributions to the University of Rochester Medical Center will earn her a place as one of our finest nursing leaders—no small feat in a school shaped by legendary figures such as Clare Dennison, R.N. , B.S. , and Loretta C. Ford, R.N. , Ed.D.

Pat's tenure as dean of the School of Nursing truly represents a great renaissance for nursing education at Rochester and her vision has helped mold the future of health care in Western New York and beyond. Her creative approaches to improving nursing practice, dedication to supporting entrepreneurship in the field and keen ability to spot emerging trends and opportunities for growth have put the School of Nursing on the map as a national model for success.

Pat will long be remembered as a dean of uncanny foresight, determination, and frankly, guts. Eight years ago, Pat stepped forward to lead a School of Nursing that was rapidly losing faculty and students, had few research grants, and was fiscally unsustainable. Pat faced the challenge head on and made tough decisions to save the school she so strongly believed in. She was never afraid to try new things, to challenge the status quo or to look to tradition to help solve the problems of the present. She not only saved the school financially but she grew it and strengthened it academically it to the benefit of hundreds of nursing students and the thousands of patients they have served since their time at Rochester.

Pat's leadership has propelled the School of Nursing from an NIH funding rank of 28 to 12. In so doing, she has driven research funding from $693,000 in 1999 to nearly $3.2 million, a remarkable four-and-a-half-fold increase. She has introduced a plethora of new programs, including a master's degree program in Leadership in Health Care Systems, a combined Master of Science/Doctoral degree program, and the recently launched Doctor of Nursing Practice. Meanwhile, she drove a $20 million capital campaign well over its original goal of $13.5 million, using those dollars to finance the largest physical expansion in the School's history. And the list goes on.

I know that Pat did not take her decision to step down as dean lightly. And I also know that the next stage of her life and career will bear numerous insights, innovations, opportunities and ideas that will surely benefit the School of Nursing and its students for years to come. As the University's Pamela York Klainer Endowed Chair in Nursing Entrepreneurship she will be able to devote her full attention to a concept she created and to which she feels so passionately connected. Pat is working to change the paradigm for the entire nursing profession and we are very lucky to have her continue her work as an esteemed member of the faculty.

In the coming weeks I will be working with Pat, Provost Kuncl and others to assemble the search committee responsible for finding the next dean of the School of Nursing. Although filling Pat's shoes will be an order of the tallest kind, I am confident that the strong framework she has built for the school will enable her successor to continue to propel the institution forward and turn out the very best nurses and nurse educators.

Sincerely,

Bradford C. Berk, M.D. , Ph.D.