Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan says he can steer the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) toward sustained profitability without investing more in the suburbs or its Wayne State University Physicians Group affiliation. After lengthy negotiations, the DMC and WSU physicians agreed in late March to extend their current contract through the end of this year. While Wayne State physicians comprise more than 700 of the DMC's 2,500 doctors, more than 1,000 Wayne State residents and graduate students also staff DMC hospitals. In June, Wayne State announced a new, separate partnership with Oakwood Healthcare Inc., and Robert Mentzer, dean of Wayne State's School of Medicine, has said the school is actively courting more partnerships. "This is not a ditching of the DMC," he said. "Affiliation with different systems would give WSU physicians and students more practical exposure to different patient populations and make the school a better candidate for increased funding."