Irwin M. Birnbaum, a hospital administrator who concentrated in finance and an attorney in New York, and Ruth J. Katz, a public health expert with extensive federal government experience, have been appointed to new positions at the School of Medicine, according to an announcement by Medical School Dean Dr. David A. Kessler.
Mr. Birnbaum has been named as the school's new chief operating officer, and Ms. Katz is the new assistant dean for administration. Their appointments are effective immediately.
"These two talented and highly accomplished professionals will bring special expertise to their new positions and will work closely with the leadership of the medical school," says Dr. Kessler, the former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner who assumed his new responsibilities as the 15th dean of the School of Medicine on July 1.
Irwin M. Birnbaum. As chief operating officer, Mr. Birnbaum will be responsible for all of the school's financial, business and operating aspects, ranging from the budget to the Yale Faculty Practice. He also will work with the Yale New Haven Health Care System to help it meet the challenges of the changes taking place in health care delivery and health care education.
Mr. Birnbaum served for 15 years as chief financial officer at Montefiore Medical Center and since 1986 has been a health care attorney and partner in the New York City offices of Proskauer Rose LLP. There, he represented health care and medical organizations throughout the country. He holds a B.S. from Brooklyn College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. Among his publications is the four-volume "Treatise on Health Care Law," which he coedited. He is active in many professional organizations and has been honored by the Health Care Financial Management Association and the United Hospital Fund, which earlier this year named him as Trustee of the Year for his work with several New York organizations. He continues to serve as adjunct professor and advisory board member of New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, and as a special adviser to the president of the United Hospital Fund.
Ruth J. Katz. As assistant dean for administration, Ms. Katz "will handle many of the day-to-day administrative programs of the dean's office and serves as my chief of staff," according to Dean Kessler.
Ms. Katz served as counsel to the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives 1982-95. She was previously a legislative aide for health affairs in the Office of U.S. Representative James H. Scheuer (D-NY), and a policy analyst and staff attorney for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health. She also was director of public health programs at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and a member of the Clinton-Gore Transition Team for Health Care Policy in 1992.
Several national organizations have honored Ms. Katz, including the American Academy of Pediatrics; the National Association of Community Health Centers and the American Medical Women's Association. Her numerous professional activities include serving on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "Making the Grade" School-Based Health Center Program and on the Trustees' Council of Penn Women at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Katz holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. degree from Emory University, and an M.P.H. from Harvard University.