The University of Minnesota has removed the leader with its physicians group from a vice presidential role followingthe announcement last week that the group and Fairview Health Services reached a deal to fund the U’s medical school.

The University of Minnesota President’s Office informed Dr. Greg Beilman on Wednesday that his interim appointment as the vice president for clinical operations had been ended, according to a spokesperson with University of Minnesota Physicians, also known as M Physicians. Beilman will continue to serve as interim chief executive officer of M Physicians.

M Physicians is a nonprofit and is governed by its own board of directors. Last week, the group came understrong criticism from university leadership after the announcement that it had reached a 10-year agreement with Fairview.

A previous deal between the U and Fairview is set to expire in 2026.

The university, in a statement Wednesday, said the move was in response to their concerns over the agreement. A resolution passed last week by the U’s Board of Regents condemned the deal, which appeared to have been reached without input from U administration.

“The Board of Regents at its Nov. 13 meeting unanimously passed a resolution directing the University to address concerns resulting from the recent actions of M Physicians leadership involving individuals serving in dual roles at the University of Minnesota and M Physicians,” the statement said. “These personnel changes were in direct response to those concerns and will help ensure the integrity of ongoing negotiations between the University, M Physicians and Fairview Health Services.”

The resolution

The University Board of Regents last week passed a resolution in response to the agreement, saying the physicians group acted “unlawfully” in the matter. Regents said M Physicians, the 1,200-member group practice for the medical school, overstepped its authority in the matter.

The resolution called for M Physicians to negotiate with the university on the issue. It further stated that “the University is now obligated to take actions that will sustain the eminence of the Medical School and to enable the University to meet the health needs of all Minnesotans.”

Fairiview, in their announcement last week, said it and M Physicians “have executed a binding agreement which includes a detailed term sheet and expect to complete a definitive agreement by the end of 2025.”

The deal was hailed by Attorney General Keith Ellison, who had been pushing the U and Fairview to reach a deal before the 2026 deadline. In September, Ellison directed M Physicians officials to begin a direct negotiation process with Fairview, according to M Physicians.

Beilman to continue other roles at the U

Beilman began his role as interim vice president for clinical operations on July 1. He also was elected by the University of Minnesota Physicians Board of Directors as interim chief executive officer of M Physicians at the time.

Beilman will continue in his roles as professor of surgery and the Owen H. and Sarah Davidson Wangensteen Chair of Surgical Research at the U’s Medical School and as a general surgeon with the Department of Surgery.

Minneapolis-based Fairview owns health care facilities on the university’s Twin Cities campus, including the teaching hospital for the medical school.

Talks to extend the partnership between the university and Fairview have been ongoing since February 2024, with the two trying to reach agreement on a new health care model. The U medical center, which educates some 70% of the doctors and nurses in Minnesota, was sold to Fairview in 1997.

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