University of Iowa’s new Mercy integration officer could earn $780K this year

IOWA CITY — A new chief integration officer the University of Iowa Health Care has appointed to manage its complex merger with Mercy Iowa City — following UIHC’s $28 million bankruptcy acquisition of the community hospital — could earn $780,000 this year, according to her professional services agreement.

Deborah Berini of the Pennsylvania-based Berini Consulting Group — chosen in December without an open search — has signed on to serve as UIHC chief integration officer and interim chief administrative officer from Jan. 2 to Jan. 1, 2025, “unless amended by written mutual agreement.”

Her fee is $65,000 a month, amounting to $780,000 for the year. The agreement doesn’t provide expenses for “on-site activity,” include benefits or cover moving costs. But Berini is in Iowa City for the task of leading Mercy’s transition into the university’s sprawling health care system, UIHC spokeswoman Laura Shoemaker said.

Berini’s compensation is below the $1.3 million earned by UIHC Vice President for Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson and the $1.1 million earned by UI Hospitals and Clinics Chief Executive Officer Bradley Haws. But it’s more than UI President Barbara Wilson’s $700,000 annual base salary and that of many other UIHC faculty members and administrators, although they also receive benefits.

In addition to leading all aspects of the Mercy-UIHC integration, Berini “will provide on-site leadership at Mercy Iowa City’s campus and support ongoing operations during the transition after the transaction is complete.”

“The current plan is for Deborah Berini to lead the integration of Mercy Iowa City into University of Iowa Health Care through the end of her contract,” Shoemaker said. “We will determine whether a search is needed at that time.”

As long as pending bankruptcy issues don’t derail the UIHC takeover, the 150-year-old Mercy Iowa City will transition to UIHC ownership Jan. 31, according to a projected timeline. At least initially, administrators report it will continue operating as it has — in hopes of providing stability for patients and providers.

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No search

The university used a “sole source purchase justification” to appoint Berini and use her one-year-old consulting group without conducting a search or issuing a public request for proposals due to “emergency need,” according to UI documents provided to The Gazette in response to a records request.

“With the short timeline for the Mercy Iowa City transition, we needed to onboard executive leadership support as quickly as possible, which is why we expedited the process,” Shoemaker said. “We are fortunate we were able to find the right person at the right time.”

Under UI policy, administrators can waive search and bid requirements in emergency situations if “life will be endangered, property will be destroyed, or considerable cost will be incurred because of events beyond the control of the department if the procurement is not completed without delay.”

In the UI explanation of why Berini is a “uniquely qualified” candidate, administrators explained, “This is an action UI would like to take to preserve critical services and programs (purchase of Mercy Iowa City) and is considered time sensitive and costly to delay.” The explanation said a delay in acquiring Mercy could put “patient care at risk.”

In unveiling Berini Dec. 21 as its new chief integration officer, UIHC cited her 20-plus years of distinguished leadership for health systems including Penn State Health, the University of Texas Medical Branch Health System, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Wisconsin Health.

Before founding Berini Consulting Group in December 2022, Berini left her post as president of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center on Aug. 25, 2022, according to Penn State Health. Statements announcing her departure at the time did not give a reason for her resignation, and Shoemaker said Tuesday that UIHC isn’t able to comment on her previous employment.

Berini declined to comment for this article.

In her resume, she reported being recruited to Penn State Health to “drive strategic direction for a health system with $2.4 billion in net patient revenue across a 647-bed academic medical center, the Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, 100-plus ambulatory clinics generating 1 million-plus visits, and the physician practice plan.”

After Penn State, she worked as a consultant for the Chartis Center for Burnout Solutions — beginning in May 2022 to the present. She coached executives and senior leaders “within large academic and community health systems in understanding the drivers of burnout and wellbeing among faculty and staff.“

The center confirmed Berini is among its independent contractors.

“Deborah’s expertise in leading large health care organizations through hospital acquisitions and periods of significant change, while maintaining high employee engagement and quality care, will be a valuable asset as we integrate Mercy Iowa City’s workforce and patient care operations with UI Health Care,” Emily Blomberg, chief operating officer of UI Hospitals and Clinics and the executive sponsor of the Mercy Iowa City integration steering committee, said in a statement.

UIHC connection

In her UIHC role, Berini will report to Blomberg, who on Dec. 9 signed the “sole source justification” for the appointment.

Berini and Blomberg worked together several years ago at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, with Berini reporting she was chief operating officer from 2013 to 2018 and Blomberg reporting she was vice president of health system operations from 2010 to August 2017.

While Berini was in Texas, she led the medical center’s growth from a single university-affiliated campus to a regional system with three hospitals, 99 clinics and health care provider for a majority of Texas’ incarcerated population, according to Penn State’s 2018 announcement of her hire there.

A “scope of work” statement for Berini as she joins UIHC indicates she’ll be in charge of efforts to “integrate workforce, contracts, workflows and all patient care activities across the University of Iowa Health Care and (Mercy) to maximize the success of the new system of care.”

She’ll drive, influence and promote “the reconciliation of goals and priorities for the hospital and ambulatory sites to operate efficiently and maintain established medical and health care standards.”

Effectively, Berini “will be responsible for the successful integration of (Mercy).”

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