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Byrd Alzheimer's Center Searches For Money And Scientists

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

TAMPA - Leaders at the Byrd Alzheimer's center, freshly battered from a volatile spring in Tallahassee, didn't wind up with a dollar in state money, and they're planning for the next few years as if they'll receive nothing more.

Members of the institute's board of directors agreed Wednesday to spread the center's $17 million in cash reserves over the next three years while they search for ways to generate more money.

Though he had no specifics, Chief Executive Officer Huntington Potter said the institute must tighten its operations but added that he would invest in hiring scientists who can bring in grant money.

"We'll see what we have to give up," Potter said. "We have to make the greatest use of the assets we already have in place."

The question remains how those assets will be shared with the University of South Florida, home to the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute.

The center's leaders fought against a merger proposal by USF, forgoing a year of state funding to preserve its independence from the university.

On Tuesday, Potter characterized USF's ambitions as a "hostile takeover" but said he was willing to let "bygones be bygones" and work toward an affiliation with the university.

If USF won't oblige, the Byrd institute will find other affiliates, he said.
USF spokesman Michael Hoad said the university won't shut down talks with the Alzheimer's center, which opened in September 2007. Difficulties will surface, however, if the center opens clinics that compete with USF for patients, Hoad said.

The university argued that its oversight of the Byrd institute would save the state money and enhance the research toward treating Alzheimer's. The institute's board of directors rejected the proposal, but the fight persisted in Tallahassee.

USF's efforts gained traction with senators, who passed a plan to dissolve the institute's board and establish the center within USF. But House leaders, knowing they would have to cut millions in health care money, proposed eliminating the Byrd institute's money altogether and, with the blessing of Byrd officials, killed the merger with USF.

Potter noted that an alliance between USF and an independent health care operation on its campus is nothing new. The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute is at USF. It is affiliated with the university, but is not a part of it.

Hoad says the two are not the same. USF doesn't compete with Moffitt for patients, and its affiliation is grounded in law. If USF agrees on an affiliation with the Byrd institute, the two would have to work out a business model, he said.

"At what point are we sharing revenues, or are we competing?" Hoad said.

As they prepared to draft their new business plan for the next three years, members of the institute's board considered first building their budget assuming they would get $10 million from the state for 2009-2010. Given the volatile politics of the past few months, however, and the possibility of another budget cut in a weakening economy, they are now assuming they will get no assistance.

That won't stop them from asking the state for money, and the board plans to send a budget request to the state in the coming weeks. Its leaders, though, are searching for business partners who can help generate revenue.

Potter also said he plans to hire four scientists who can head up the institute's various laboratories. He has interviewed seven over the past several months, he said.

"If we don't hire scientists, we're dead," he said.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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