To further save costs, Drexel administrators now perform double-duty by overseeing both systems. This point raised concern among Drexel's faculty, said Ernest Hakanen, chair of the faculty senate and a professor of communications. The Drexel faculty now worries about changes to the management culture that will occur. The medical school will attract research grants, which will be good for it and good for the university as a whole, Hakanen said. But until now, Drexel has operated as a liberal arts school, with some departments bringing in enough money to cover the costs of others that aren't money-makers, but are still important to education.
Some people worry about the culture changing.
We spent so many years trying not to be like Penn. Despite the worries, Drexel's management has stemmed the financial loss that at one point threatened 13,000 jobs in Philadelphia. By next year, the school is expected to show its first profit under Drexel's watch. So MCP-Hahnemann cut ties with large private practices and eliminated medical staff working at other hospitals but paid through the school, he said. While more than 1,100 doctors received paychecks under Allegheny, the medical school now has about 430 faculty, Ross said.