June 27, 2008

James Goodnight, a physician leader at UC Davis Health System for nearly 30 years, has been appointed as director of the UC Davis Practice Management Group and associate dean, Clinical Affairs.

Currently chair of the UC Davis Department of Surgery, Goodnight will assume his new position effective Sept. 1. As director of the faculty group practice, Goodnight will work closely with the dean and vice chancellor, the Practice Management Board and other physician leaders within the health system to provide overall leadership, vision and strategic direction for the day-to-day operations of the Practice Management Group, which includes all of UC Davis' primary and specialty care faculty physicians.

"Dr. Goodnight has all of the abilities and skills needed to oversee the clinical operations of our faculty physician group," said Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. "He is a natural leader who is well-respected by his colleagues for his clinical and administrative decision-making ability. In his many years of service at UC Davis, he has formed strong working relationships within and beyond our institution, which will be major assets as we formalize the leadership of our medical group practices and refine the role of our group practice in achieving the research, teaching, patient care and community engagement goals of our health system."

Working with members of the Practice Management Group, Goodnight will design the structure, rules, scope of responsibility, funding needs and medical practice goals of the group. He will collaborate with the leadership of the School of Medicine and UC Davis Medical Center to set and achieve joint strategic goals across the UC Davis Health System.

Goodnight joined UC Davis in 1980 as an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery's Surgical Oncology Division. As he was promoted to associate professor and full professor, Goodnight also became chief of the Surgical Oncology Division in 1982.

From 1991 to 1996, Goodnight was director of UC Davis Cancer Center Program. In 1996, he was appointed as the Pearl Stamps Stewart Chair and Professor of Surgery. His clinical interests are malignant melanoma, bone and soft tissue sarcoma, and breast cancer.

UC Davis Health System is an integrated, academic health system encompassing UC Davis School of Medicine, the 577-bed acute-care hospital and clinical services of UC Davis Medical Center, the 800-member physician group known as UC Davis Medical Group, and the proposed Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.