Michelle Obama has resigned her leadership post at the University of Chicago Medical Center as she prepares to take on her new role at the White House as First Lady.

During the presidential campaign, she had been on leave as Vice President for Community and External Affairs at the Medical Center. "We are so very proud of Michelle personally, and we are very thankful for her professional accomplishments in creating and expanding the strategic vision for the Office of Community Affairs," said Dr. James Madara, CEO of the Medical Center.

In light of her departure, Madara announced that the Medical Center's Office of Community and External Affairs has been reorganized under the leadership of Dr. Eric Whitaker, Executive Vice President for Strategic Affiliations and Associate Dean for Community Based Research.

Officials at the University of Chicago Hospitals on Tuesday explained a large salary jump for Sen. Barack Obama’s wife shortly after he took office as a normal promotion that reflected expanded duties in her job as a liaison withthe South Side community surrounding the medical center. Michelle Obama was promoted to vice president for external affairs in March2005, two months after her husband took office in the Senate. According to a tax return released by the senator this week, the promotion nearly tripled her income from the hospitals from $121,910 in 2004 to $316,962 in 2005.

Riordan said Obama’s promotion had nothing to do with her husband becominga U.S. senator. “She was hired before Barack was Barack,” Riordan said. “She is worth her weight in gold, and she is just terrific.”

The University of Chicago Medical Center Friday evening tonight confirmed a massive restructuring that will trim $100 million in expenses, or nearly 7 percent of its annual budget, amid the economic downturn and unpaid bills owed the hospital from the state Medicaid program for the poor.

Initially, the hospital is eliminating 15 senior executive jobs, including a position that had been held by incoming First Lady Michelle Obama, who had been vice president for community and external affairs for the medical center. Her duties will be taken over by Dr. Eric Whitaker, a friend of her husband, President-elect Barack Obama, and a long-time U. of C. Medical Center executive vice president for strategic affiliations and external affairs.

The hospital has yet to determine the scope of additional job reductions but said they would not affect medical care, nor the South Side community outreach launched by Michelle Obama. In addition, the hospital said it was forging ahead with plans to open a new $700 million hospital pavilion in 2012.