Bernardino presented his vision for the health sciences at UB April 28 at the UB Council's final meeting of the academic year.

Over the next five years, he said, UB's health-sciences community must focus on three primary areas-building infrastructure, developing affiliate agreements with area hospitals and revamping the practice plan-in order to position itself for the future.

In terms of finances, the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences "is in better shape than people appreciate. A lot of schools are facing greater problems," he said. Instead, UB should be focusing on quality of education, because, as Bernardino said, "we're in the business of producing good physicians."

Although many medical schools operate a university teaching hospital, "the fact there's not a hospital here (at UB) is not a drawback...(but) offers significant challenges," Bernardino said.

"Hospitals are not cash cows."

In fact, the practice of health care will be moving into the community more and more in the future, Bernardino predicted. Within five years, he added, he expects 60-70 percent of health care to occur in the community.

UB's system of working with area hospitals "is an asset" that will allow UB to focus on programs and set goals based on where those programs should be in the next five years, he told the council.

"There's a lot of opportunity here," Bernardino said. "The key is to get all parts together so we're not fighting forces....We should be synergists."

In response to a question regarding his feelings about area hospital mergers from Jeremy Jacobs, chair pro tem for the meeting, Bernardino said, "We're working our way through that now."

He added that Western New York is "more overbedded than most communities," and that the hospital systems will have to "develop a system where they feel they get added value from us, but I think that's doable.

"We have a role to play in this. Everyone is going to have to give up a little bit here," he added.

In other business, the council endorsed the selection of the 1998 Chancellor Norton Medal honoree. The award will be presented to Ruth Kahn Stovroff at UB's 152nd Commencement ceremony, to be held May 17. Since 1925, the medal, UB's highest tribute, has been awarded 66 times to men and four times to women, noted John Walsh, a former council member and 1997 chair of the Norton Medal selection committee, who presented the 1998 nomination to the council. The choice of Stovroff, a highly respected leader long recognized for her concern for the community, is a "fantastic selection," commented council member Roger Blackwell.

In his report to the council, UB President William R. Greiner said that over the next four years, there will be a "dramatic transformation" of student housing at the university, including construction of apartment-style, graduate-student housing that is expected to be ready for occupancy in the fall; apartment-style, undergraduate-student housing that is expected to break ground this summer and be ready for occupancy in the fall of 1999, new housing sponsored by the Alumni Association and the conversion of some South Campus residence halls into apartment-style housing. The transformation of student housing also will include plans for the University Heights area near the South Campus, Greiner added.

He also apprised the council of plans to provide UB students with universal computer access so that "every student will be assured, by one means or another, that they will have access to computing on campus."

Noting that there will be "bumps along the road" toward this goal, Greiner added that "no one should graduate from this campus without being very computer literate."