Outgoing Jackson Health CEO on testy University of Miami relationship

Miami Herald, December 8, 2008

For five years, Marvin O'Quinn has headed one of South Florida's biggest institutions, Jackson Health System, a billion-dollar enterprise with three main hospitals and 12 primary care centers. He took over Jackson when the public system had just suffered an $85 million loss. Thanks to county support and a half-penny sales tax, he has kept the budget pretty well balanced. At the end of December, he's stepping down to take a job as chief operating officer with a West Coast hospital system with more than 40 hospitals. In this Q&A with the Miami Herald, O'Quinn discusses difficult times, past and present, and his sometimes testy relationship with the University of Miami.