Wayne State and the DMC are negotiating over terms of contracts that bind the institutions as medical school and teaching hospital. Both sides have said they\'ll sever all ties if a deal is not in place by early to mid-November. In a letter to employees posted on the site, DMC Chief Operating Officer Mike Duggan accuses Wayne State of abandoning Detroit for the suburbs. \"WSU is aggressively building a fleet of lifeboats, establishing numerous suburban hospital contracts so their doctors can one day jump ship and float off into a sea of better payer mix,\" Duggan wrote. Dr. Robert Frank, executive vice dean of the medical school, said Thursday, \"It will seem to me like we actually are not that far apart, and then things keep popping up. I have no way of reading Mike Duggan\'s mind anymore.\" WSU medical school Dean Dr. Robert Mentzer, in a letter to the medical school community, says Wayne State invests in Detroit and the DMC benefits in the form of revenues and patient care for the uninsured and underinsured. Wayne State contends the DMC\'s focus on profits conflicts with the school\'s focus on research and community care.