Increased funding from Fairview Health Services would allow the University of Minnesota's medical school to invest more money in research at a time when federal support has been diminished, university officials said Thursday, May 9.

With the new financial support, the U could better develop information technology systems that allow researchers to analyze large volumes of data for studies on health care quality and patient outcomes, said Dr. Aaron Friedman, vice president for health sciences at the U, during a news conference.

The funds also could allow the university to better train doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and public health experts to work together for better patient care, Friedman said.

"It will make a difference in how effective we can be as a medical school," he said.

The U's Board of Regents is expected Friday to approve an agreement in which the Minneapolis-based Fairview network of hospitals and clinics would provide $90 million in financial support to the U's medical school over a 10-year period.

Since 1997, Minneapolis-based Fairview has owned and operated the U's teaching hospitals through an affiliation agreement that also involves University of Minnesota Physicians (UMP).

Last year, Fairview made a $5 million payment to support the U's academic health center.

But previously, the health system's financial performance was not strong enough to trigger such payments.

Some at the U feel the lack of financial support

"It was a balancing act," said Chuck Mooty, the interim chief executive officer at Fairview, of the new annual payment figures. "It really became both what was a significant boost ... (in) contributions from Fairview to the academic mission of the university, and yet what was at a level that was affordable."

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University of Minnesota: Fairview agrees to pay U medical school $90M over 10 years