The Central Files series (46.5 linear feet), 1997-2010, are arranged in alphabetical order by subject or university unit. The files are arranged alphabetical in each of the three accessions. Boxes 1-6 contain the 2001 acquisition, Boxes 8-19 contain the 2002 acquisition, and Boxes 20-26 contain the 2004 acquisition. Boxes 30-55 contain accessions added in 2013. Some subjects may be contained in more than one accession, while others will be in only one. Some subject headings are broken down into related components. For example, "Clinical Departments" serves as an umbrella heading for folders containing information on individual clinical departments of the Medical School, including the departments of dermatology, internal medicine, and pediatrics, while "Executive Officers" serves as an umbrella heading for correspondence between Omenn and the chief executives of the university, including the President and the Provost.
The records include written correspondence, printouts of email, reports, promotional literature, and planning materials related to all of the office's areas of oversight (health sciences, hospitals and health system, Medical School, and M-Care, the university's managed health care organization). The record group also reflects the diverse activities of the office, with its true strength deriving from its demonstration of how these activities relate to each other, to other units at the university, and to the overall philosophy and mission of the medical programs at the university. Of particular note are minutes and reports from the Health Affairs Senior Team and its successor, the Health Sciences Council, a working group comprised of the deans of the university's health-oriented schools, which reflect the evolving priorities and concerns of the university as they relate to medical affairs. Also of note is information about the development of the Michigan Life Sciences Initiative and the Life Sciences Corridor.
In addition to providing insight into the overall scope and direction of medical programs at the university, the record group contains information on the specific activities of individual units reporting to the office which may not be available in other record groups currently held by the university archives. These include internal and external reviews of departments in the Medical School, information on the recruitment process for faculty and students for the Medical School and hospitals, planning materials for M-Care and the Michigan Health Corporation, and correspondence related to new medical initiatives such as the Center for Organogenesis and the Tobacco Research Network.
The records also reflect the office's role in providing outreach to people and groups outside the university, and contain information about various health agencies, health organizations, and hospitals in Michigan. Of particular note is correspondence pertaining to relationship with hospitals such as Henry Ford Health System and Foote Hospital, and information on the university's health insurance negotiations with major Michigan employers such as Ford Motor Company and General Motors.
In 2013, accessions from 2006 (boxes 30-36), 2008 (boxes 38-45), 2012 (boxes 47-55), and 2013 (boxes 56-58) were added to the series. These new accessions primarily document Kelch's service as Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs although there is material from Omenn as well as from his successor, Ora Pescovitz. The new accessions follow the same arrangement as previous materials and cover many of the same topics, extending the documentation of the office's activities. However, later accessions do add new content on topics such as stem cell research, development and expansion projects such as the Children and Women's Replacement Project and the Cardiovascular Center, and materials related to the Survival Flight Crash.
