ANN ARBOR, MI - Deborah Childs has been selected as the University of Michigan Health System's chief Human Resources officer, Larry Warren, Associate Vice President of the U-M Health System, has announced. The appointment was effective March 21, 2005.

Deborah Childs

Childs has served as the Health System's interim Human Resources Administrator since April 2004. In that role, her responsibilities included directing Health System Human Resources, the Occupational and Health Promotion programs and the Program for Multicultural Health.

“Deborah has done an outstanding job as the interim administrator and I look forward to working with her as chief Human Resources officer to proactively address the issues facing our organization,” says Warren, who is also the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers.

Childs has worked in the Health System for 30 years, beginning as a secretary in the Department of Psychiatry in 1974. She came to Human Resources in 1981, where she served in many leadership roles, including director of Labor Relations, chief spokesperson for nursing and house officers contract negotiations, and co-lead for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees bargaining team and human resources policy leadership.

There are more than 17,000 people employed by the University of Michigan Health System, which comprises the U-M Medical School and its Faculty Group Practice, three U-M hospitals, approximately 30 health centers, 120 outpatient clinics, M-CARE HMO and the Michigan Health Corp.

“I'm excited and honored by this opportunity. I am privileged to lead an outstanding team who are committed to excellence and dedicated to assisting all of our managers and staff to carry out our missions effectively,” says Childs.

Childs holds a bachelor's degree from Trinity University and has extensive expertise in the field of interest-based problem solving techniques, also known as "mutual gains." She has spoken nationally and internationally on the application of mutual gains in the collective bargaining process and was published in the National Institute for Dispute Resolution Forum in 1996.

Written by Mary Beth Reilly

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