Did you know that the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences requested an audit of its Myeloma Institute (recently renamed the Myeloma Center)?
The audit, which is being conducted by the University of Arkansas System, should be able to determine if there’s any money unaccounted for in the cancer program, founded in 1989. The accounting is expected to be final after January.
UAMS spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson requested the audit because the Myeloma Center was being combined with UAMS’ Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Patterson “and the senior leadership asked for this audit just as a best practice because we were combining two institutions,” she said.
Combining the two programs is tied to getting a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Arkansas. The designation would bring clinical trials and therapies not currently available to Arkansans in the state, Taylor said in a follow-up email. To get the designation, all cancer programs have to be under one administrative structure.
Dr. Stephanie Gardner, who at the time was interim chancellor, announced the plan to unify the programs last October. The move was finalized in August.
Other Myeloma News
Dr. Gareth Morgan, the former director of the Myeloma Institute, recently had his educational license reinstated by the Arkansas State Medical Board.
You may recall that, back in June, the board said it would not renew Morgan’s license until he completed a three-day course for distressed physicians. The board had received a complaint that “Dr. Morgan was a bit of a disruptive physician,” the board’s attorney said in June. UAMS’ Taylor said in June that the doctor’s comments were “creating a hostile work environment.” The comments involved cursing.
Last week, Taylor said Morgan is reapplying for privileges at UAMS.
Morgan is expected to continue working on research at the cancer center. His annual salary is $398,900.
(Editor's Note: An earlier verison of this story had a number for Morgan's salary for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018.)
