Compensation for the new associate provost of external relations at the OU Health Sciences Center will not come from public funds, OU President David Boren said Tuesday.

Askins will be paid the same salary she received as lieutenant governor — $114,713. However, her pay will come from clinical funds provided by the Health Sciences Center, Boren said.

“The Health Sciences Center is so different than [the Norman] campus; it really pays for itself,” Boren said.

Clinical funds are revenues collected from patients who see doctors at the Health Sciences Center, Boren said. Instead of patients’ pay going directly to doctors it goes into a general clinical fund that is disbursed to doctors and other institutional commitments because the hospital is part of a medical school.

Between 80 and 90 percent of the Health Sciences Center’s budget is dependent on clinical funds, Boren said.

Boren had appointed former Lt. Gov. Jari Askins to the associate provost position at the Health Sciences Center to advocate for programs such as the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center, the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center and the Tisdale Clinic, according to a press release the university issued March 2.

The press release didn’t state the appointment was subject to approval by the OU Board of Regents and did not specify a source of funding for the hire because the university is in a budget-cutting year and has implemented a general hiring freeze to offset costs.

Askins’ position is meant to bring more business to the Health Sciences Center, OU spokesman Chris Shilling said.

“What’s funny is a lot of people in Oklahoma don’t know some of the important centers we have on the Health Sciences Center — like the Dean McGee Eye Institute — which is one of the top three eye institutes in the country,” Shilling said.

Boren said he approached Askins after she lost the gubernatorial race, telling her the Health Sciences Center would soon have a position open.

“I said, ‘We’re going to have this need coming,’ and then when she didn’t get the Supreme Court, I really then zeroed in and tried to recruit her into the job,” Boren said.

Askins could have received higher compensation through the Health Sciences Center’s clinical funds, but she declined because she is dedicated to the position and wants it to be her last, Shilling said in an e-mail.

Askins said in an e-mail she hopes her new position will be the final chapter of her career. She never explicitly stated she would not run for office again.

The Health Sciences Center provides many critical services and it will be her job to make these services known throughout the state, Askins said in an e-mail.

“My familiarity with local communities across Oklahoma and my advocacy for better health care will be assets as I work to inform all Oklahomans of the resources available right here in our state,” Askins said in an e-mail.

Askins said since leaving the office of lieutenant governor, she received several job offerings from law practices, non-profit foundation work and other higher education roles including teaching.

“The [OU Health Sciences Center] is an engine that promotes research, education and patient care, all critical to the economic growth of our state and the quality of life for our citizens,” Askins said in an e-mail. “I am excited to continue my advocacy for these areas and to join the [Health Sciences Center] team.”

Askins’ start date is anticipated to be April 4, pending approval by the regents during its next meeting, Shilling said.

The next regent’s meeting is March 23.