By Bari Faye Dean
Fifty years ago, in 1965, SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital, then called “State University Hospital,” opened its doors. Ten years later, Mantosh Dewan, MD, walked through them for the first time.
Back then, the young psychiatry resident, with his mind focused on his patients, wanting to conduct important mental healthcare research and write about it, Dr. Dewan could never have dreamed that someday he would be the guiding force behind the outstanding growth and achievements of the Upstate University Health System.
Upstate is more than just a flagship hospital with many satellite locations throughout Central New York. The medical university boasts four colleges – the Medical College, the College of Health Professions, College of Nursing and College of Graduates Studies. All four colleges are constantly striving to do more to fill the nationwide clinician shortage.
“We are doing everything possible to respond to the healthcare needs we face today,” Dr. Dewan said. “Of course, we are constantly growing, and we will never stop trying to do more for our patients today, while also thinking ahead to what the future holds.”
About Dr. Dewan…
Dr. Dewan is a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Upstate. He was both director of Undergraduate Education and director of Residency Training. He also served as interim dean of the College of Medicine.
With 35 books and book chapters and 75 papers to his credit, he is well-known and respected for speaking on a wide range of topics from brain imaging to the economics of mental healthcare.
And, a lifetime of caring for others has garnered him myriad accolades: Best Doctors in America, Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, recipient of the Scientific Achievement Award from the Indo-American Psychiatrists Association, the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the list continues.
About Dr. Dewan’s Mission…
Dr. Dewan has been the driving force behind increasing Upstate’s employee base, which now employs the largest workforce in Central New York. It’s edging toward 13,000 strong and still growing. Under Dr. Dewan’s leadership, Upstate has become the second-largest revenue producer in the entire SUNY system – to the tune of an economic impact of $3.2 billion across the state.
Impressive numbers, for sure, but unfortunately, that growth isn’t always enough. There are some days, Dr. Dewan laments, when Upstate has to turn patients away; there simply aren’t enough beds. And, with the promise of Micron being built to the west of Syracuse, Dr. Dewan knows the number of Upstate’s prospective new patients will grow significantly in the next decade.
Accommodating that kind of future patient growth, he said, requires adhering to the plan he put in place that “ensures excellence and access” now. It’s a strategy that will also go a long way to meeting the needs of the growing region when the time comes.
“For me, it’s about doing more, better – now,” Dr. Dewan said. “I am focused on hiring the very best people who bring the best in clinical care. We just have to keep doing more because there is such a need.”
And, where there is a need, Dr. Dewan is ready to jump in and help.
A Bit of History
President Dewan took on the role of president at Upstate at the end of 2018 and says 2019 was a transition year. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Dewan’s strategic vision for growth turned to a singular focus: making sure Upstate clinicians had what they needed to battle what turned out to be some of the darkest days in modern healthcare for the entire world.
“That was a very stressful time for all our clinicians and all our
academics. I learned something very important about this team at Upstate. I saw a level of kindness and caring that I’ve never seen in my life. You might have expected bad behavior from people under such sustained stress. Not here. All I saw was competence and caring,” he said. “It was like a miracle that 12,000 people stepped up and were so kind.”
Dr. Dewan’s leadership surely led the way; he did whatever was necessary to procure personal protective equipment, including masks, that healthcare facilities around the world couldn’t seem to get their hands on.
“It was a scary time. I committed early on that we would do everything to protect our people,” Dr. Dewan said. “I am very proud to say we did not lose a single employee to COVID.”
Growing Upstate
Upstate is the second largest public university by revenue in New York State; Stony Brook University on Long Island is the largest. “We have been growing and intend to keep growing,” Dr. Dewan said, noting Upstate has a significant direct impact on the economy of this region and state.
Indeed. The previously noted $3.2 billion in economic impact on New York State is nearly double the impact of $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2008.
While Upstate received $65.2 million in direct operational support from the State of New York, the investment enabled Upstate to generate substantial economic activity.
“We are good stewards of the funding we get from the state,” Dr. Dewan stressed. “For every state dollar we receive in operating support, we make $47. That is only from direct operating costs. I am very proud of this.”
Life-changing Medicine with Novel Inventions
There is plenty of growth – both in infrastructure builds and expansions and healthcare service offerings – on the horizon at Upstate. While he surely would like all of Upstate’s plans to come to fruition, Dr. Dewan said he believes “hope” is not a strategy for growth.
Financial investment and business support for Upstate’s research scientists, he maintained, will continue to turn dreams into reality.
For example, he speaks highly of Frank Middleton, PhD, a professor of neuroscience and physiology at Upstate, who developed a saliva test for COVID that was used at 60 of the 64 SUNY campuses and eventually in the Syracuse public schools. Dr. Middleton also developed a saliva test for autism that has received FDA breakthrough designation.
With great pride, he also reminds that Stephen Thomas, MD, a full-time faculty member at Upstate, was the lead principal investigator for the world-wide Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trial. Dr. Thomas presented the findings of the trial to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to get the first vaccine approved.
But Wait, There’s More – and Upstate Will Be Part of It
Dr. Dewan is less of a talker and more of a thinker and a doer. He is certain that research scientists at Upstate and the 30 to 40 companies operating out of the health system’s Bio Accelerator are working on “the next great things” in medicine and he is determined to support their work fully.
“There is very exciting work going on in cancer research and in neuroscience – specifically looking at dementia and schizophrenia,” he said. “And do you know about all the work being done here in vision research? How about the strong group of scientists doing work in endocrine studies? They are trying to grow pancreatic cells in the lab. This would be a permanent cure for diabetes!”
Though Dr. Dewan is soft-spoken with a calm demeanor – the type you might expect from a successful psychiatrist – he can’t help but show his excitement for the work being done at the Bio Accelerator – a business incubator where the brightest entrepreneurial minds can bring “what’s next” in healthcare to market.
“Seeing the companies in our Biotech Accelerator, as well as initiatives we’ve supported financially with the Upstate Biotech Venture Fund, succeed is so gratifying to me,” Dr. Dewan said, adding this work is extremely important to Upstate’s continued growth trajectory.
With the $5 million Upstate invested in the venture fund and the matching $5 million received by Empire State Development, Dr. Dewan said he is hoping to invest in 20 different projects that will bring new therapies to market quickly.
And, why not? Upstate has a storied history when it comes to being first in healthcare in Central New York. Upstate has the only cancer center in Syracuse treating adults and children and recently opened facilities in Verona and Auburn. “Opening centers where people can get access to cancer care close to home is very important to me. We need to make healthcare as easy and convenient for patients as we can,” Dr. Dewan said.
He is quick to list many more exciting “onlys” and “firsts.” Upstate is CNY’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and is one of only five hospitals in all of New York State to have Level 1 Trauma Centers for both pediatrics and adults.
“We offer 70 healthcare services that aren’t provided elsewhere in CNY, including care for burns, kidney transplants and new efforts for pediatric mental health,” Dr. Dewan said. “For example, Upstate has the only Joslin Center for Diabetes in the state. Upstate has the only inpatient unit for children with autism and behavior problems in the state. The level of stroke care we can provide is unmatched,” he added. “We have the only neurological intensive care unit in the region, and those patients benefit from unique in-patient rehabilitation services as well.”
A Unique Type of Leader
It’s not easy to get Dr. Dewan to talk about himself. He will tell you that getting married to his lovely wife of 50 years is the best decision he has ever made. He is quick to say that he loves to travel to visit his children and grandchildren – in Los Angeles and Miami – and also enjoys taking trips around the world. In the past year he has been to Japan and Egypt and is always looking for his next vacation spot.
But when it comes to talking about his own leadership style, Dr. Dewan smiles and goes right back to being the man with a plan in charge at Upstate.
“I work in a system that has an amazing level of talent. Without exaggeration, if I go to any meeting, say with Upstate neurologists or cardiologists, I know that I’ll always be the least qualified person in the room,” he said. “As president, my job is not to tell them what to do. I lead by supporting them so they can be exactly who they are – the very best.”