Dr. Charles Mercer has officially announced that he will end his three-year
term as Executive Vice Chancellor for the UT Medical Center at Knoxville,
though he will serve part-time in an advisory position.
Mercer first served as medical director of the UT Medical Group at UT
Memphis from 1988 to 1990, then as director of the William F. Bowld
Hospital and as Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at the UT College of
Medicine before coming to the UT Medical Center as medical director in
1991.
After his appointment as Executive Vice Chancellor in October 1994, Mercer
has worked to make UT Medical Center more efficient and to reduce spending
without affecting the quality of patient care.
Now, Mercer says that although this was a tough decision, he is ready to
go back to his real love, the medical side of administration.
“This is something that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time,” Mercer
said. “I will now be able to return to the medical side of administration,
which has always been most important to me.”
Although he is not officially leaving his post until Dec. 31, 1997, his
colleagues are already expressing the loss.
“Charlie has done a superb job for the medical center, and we hate to lose
him as Executive Vice Chancellor,” said UT Memphis Chancellor William Rice.
“Under his leadership, the Graduate School of Medicine has obtained
additional residency positions, providing the opportunity to train more
primary care physicians.
“He also worked with university officials during the development of new
legislation (approved by the General Assembly earlier this year) which will
help ensure the medical center’s future success,” Rice said. “Charlie’s
contributions to the medical center and the community have been numerous. I
am very pleased that he has agreed to continue to work with us in an
advisory role.”
Although Mercer will be missed, his contributions to UT will not end there.
“My future plans include working with Medical Director Jack Lacey to
develop new methods of patient care, and with the Graduate School of
Medicine on curriculum enhancements which will help young physicians learn
more about the challenging health care environment,” Mercer said.
“I feel good about the accomplishments that have been made during my
administration, but I can not take all of the credit,” Mercer said. “I have
been blessed with an excellent group of physicians and employees, and I
sincerely believe that the medical center’s excellent reputation in the
community continues to grow because of them.”
Even as he takes his final bow as Executive Vice Chancellor, Mercer
acknowledged his colleagues as the support system that helped him achieve
success.
