The outgoing director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has accepted a job at CHI St. Vincent.

Dr. Peter Emanuel turned in his resignation letter on May 4. His last day at UAMS is Tuesday.

Emanuel, 59, will join CHI St. Vincent on Sept. 1, according to a statement from the hospital. His position was not specified.

At the time of his resignation, he declined to give the reason for his departure, only citing unspecified challenges. He could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

UAMS is conducting a national search for a new cancer institute director, said Leslie Taylor, vice chancellor of communications and marketing. Dr. Laura Hutchins was appointed interim director in June. Hutchins is a professor in the College of Medicine Division of Hematology/Oncology, where she was division director from 1998 until September 2013.

Emanuel is a widely recognized expert in leukemia and lymphoma, a UAMS website states. He joined UAMS in 2007 after leaving the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he was a professor of medicine, genetics and biochemistry.

From 2004 to 2006 he was the acting director of the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Alabama university.

During his time at UAMS, he oversaw the addition of the cancer institute's 12-story research and treatment tower, which opened in 2010. His annual salary was $500,000.

His resignation in May followed UAMS' decision to temporarily suspend its cardiac surgery program due to lead surgeon Dr. Gareth Tobler's retirement. That program restarted at the beginning of July, with the hospital contracting with four new physicians.

UAMS also laid off almost 260 employees in January to curb an anticipated $72.3 million deficit. Those layoffs included one full-time physician -- a general ear, nose and throat doctor who did not work at the cancer institute.

News of Emanuel's new role comes one day after an invoice that his wife, Carla Emanuel, sent seeking reimbursement from the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute became public.

The $4,000 bill lists events that she attended, phone calls she made and work she did to resolve problems with donors. Taylor said UAMS was not going to pay the bill because state procedures regarding vendors and invoices were not followed.

Taylor added that the invoice was the first one she was aware of from a spouse, and the institution does not normally reimburse people for attending fundraising events.

The Arkansas Times first reported on the invoice on Thursday.

Metro on 07/28/2018

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