Kris Devine (left), Dr. Steven Gabbe (center) and Geoff Chatas are all set to change positions within the next year.
Credits: Courtesy of OSU, Shelby Lum / Photo editor and Lantern file photo
Ohio State is set to see three major staffing changes within the year, as the university chief financial officer, the OSU Wexner Medical Center chief executive officer and the vice president for business and finance operations step into new roles.
Dr. Steven Gabbe, Medical Center CEO, is set to step down in December or “sooner if a successor is appointed before that time,” OSU Interim President Joseph Alutto announced in an email to faculty and staff Tuesday.
Gabbe is slated to remain a senior vice president through June 2015 and will then return to the faculty, Alutto’s email said.
Gabbe earned a base salary of $844,600 in 2013, OSU spokesman Gary Lewis said in an email.
Gabbe came to OSU in 1987 as a professor and chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, but left in 1996 to become chair of OB-GYN at the University of Washington Medical Center and later dean at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, according to the Medical Center website.
He returned to OSU in 2008 as CEO, Lewis said, and has since been a part of leading the Medical Center’s $1.1 billion expansion project that is planned to be completed later this year, according to Alutto’s email.
Meanwhile, Geoff Chatas, OSU chief financial officer and senior vice president of business and finance, is set to move into the role of senior vice president for optimization and integration and Medical Center chief transformation officer, effective March 1. He is slated to remain CFO “until his successor is able to begin,” the email said.
Chatas’ position will be a new one at the university, Alutto’s email said, where he will look to increase operating efficiency as he pursues new sources of revenue.
“Geoff will act as an internal catalyst for growth at the Medical Center,” Alutto said. “In his new capacity, Geoff will continue to report directly to me, leading a team that will work with Steve Gabbe and his successor to accomplish our objectives, across the Medical Center.”
Chatas’ 2013 base salary was about $669,760, according the Columbus Business First DataCenter.
Lewis said there will be no change in Chatas’ salary for moving into the new position.
Chatas has served as CFO and senior vice president at OSU since February 2010. He worked for AEP Texas Central Transition Funding LLC prior to his appointment.
Kris Devine, the OSU vice president for business and finance operations, was named deputy chief financial officer, effective Tuesday, to assist Chatas during the transition period, according to the email.
Devine earned a base salary of about $319,400 in 2013, according the Columbus Business First DataCenter.
Lewis said Devine’s move is a promotion, but he was not able to immediately provide details on her new salary Tuesday evening.
Devine has served in her current role since July 2011.
Alutto said Dr. Michael Drake, who is set to become OSU’s president June 30, was consulted on the timing of the changes.
“I have reviewed these issues with President-Designate Drake, and the timing of these processes will be such that he will play a major role in determining (hiring) outcomes,” the email read.
The Lantern was unsuccessful in attempts to get immediate comment from Drake Tuesday evening.
