Homer Schmitz, Ph.D., Named Interim Dean of School of Public Health

Homer Schmitz, Ph.D

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University has named Homer Schmitz, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Public Health, effective July 1.

Dr. Schmitz is a professor of health management and policy in the School of Public Health and has been a member of the Saint Louis University faculty for 27 years.

"Dr. Schmitz is an experienced administrator and talented fiscal manager who understands the needs of the School of Public Health and has well-established linkages to the local health care community," said Joe Weixlmann, Ph.D., Saint Louis University provost. "I am confident that he will do an excellent job serving the school over the next year."

During the past 34 years Dr. Schmitz has gained extensive executive experience in managing the operations, information systems, planning and finances of various sectors of the healthcare market, including a 450-member multi-specialty physician practice, a managed care organization with more than 250,000 enrollees, a 500-bed acute care

teaching hospital and a large regional emergency medical services provider.

"In addition to my academic pursuits, I've been involved with organizational management most of my life," he said. Most recently, Schmitz was president and chief executive officer of Abbott Ambulance, which is jointly owned by Saint Louis University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, from 1998 to December 2003. He served as executive director of the University Medical Group of Saint Louis University from 1994 through 1997. Schmitz was executive director of HealthLine Corporate Health, an occupational health service that had been a subsidiary of Saint Louis University, from 1992 through 1995.

"I had one semester of freedom," Dr. Schmitz joked. "This is the fourth university enterprise I've had the privilege of leading over the last 12 years."

Dr. Schmitz earned his doctorate in finance at Saint Louis University. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas and his MBA from Wichita State University.

Schmitz is a nationally recognized author and lecturer in health care management. During his career he has authored or co-authored five books and more than 70 articles in peer reviewed technical and professional journals. His landmark article "Monte Carlo Simulation of Operating Room and Recovery Room Usage," written with Dr. N.K. Kwak at SLU's business school, has been widely cited since its original publication in 1972. His research interests include reimbursement protocols and their financial impact on health care organizations, information systems, and information resource management.

Saint Louis University School of Public Health is one of only 34 fully accredited schools of public health in the United States and the nation's only School of Public Health sponsored by a Jesuit university. It offers master's degrees (MPH, MHA) and doctoral programs (Ph.D.) in six public health disciplines and joint degrees with the Schools of Allied Health, Business, Law, Medicine, Nursing and Social Service. It is home to seven nationally recognized research centers and laboratories with funding sources that include the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the American Cancer Society, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the World Health Organization.

[ Return to Top of Page ]