Currently they include an electric utility executive as chairman, a former United States senator, a community leader from central Oregon, a municipal seaport director, and the chairman of the state board of higher education. No longer bound by Oregon's procurement and funding statutes for educational institutions, OHSU can now bond projects in the open market. During the past several years OHSU has spun off several components that have state-mandated service responsibilities, but executives work with the legislature to continue funding for others. The UCLA experience reflects limited change short of severing the connection between the medical center and the university. The Center for the Health Sciences comprises five hospitals.
Governance rests with the university system's board of regents.
The 25 advisors are community leaders who serve 12-year terms. The Center's chief executive, a physician, holds titles as provost of medical sciences and dean of the medical school. According to a Center staff member, he is encouraging greater participation by advisors. Its main campus is in Carbondale, but much of its medical school is in the larger town of Springfield, also the state capital. The medical school is affiliated with two private Springfield hospitals and several other specialized institutions in the region, including a Veterans Administration facility.