Levy previously sat on a Beth Israel Deaconess steering committee, and Martin co-chaired the search committee that picked him.

Buehrens, who will assume many of Levy’s former duties as a liaison with Harvard’s affiliates, said that HMS will continue to consult with Beth Israel Deaconess as Levy contemplates his first moves.

Beyond the medical school, there are also signs that the new University administration is paying close attention to how events play out on HMS’s Longwood campus.

According to Buehrens, University President Lawrence H. Summers and Martin have been meeting on and off, and have discussed Beth Israel Deaconess’ troubles.

Newly appointed University Provost Steven E. Hyman indicated that he and Summers were very concerned with the hospital’s health.

“I am going to pay a great deal of attention to this issue,” said Hyman, a former HMS professor. “We can’t afford for this hospital to incur substantial damage.”

Hyman said that he and Summers were pleased with Levy’s appointment as well, calling him “the man who can save the Beth Israel.”

Hyman said he and Summers would primarily be involved in retaining HMS faculty based at the troubled hospital.

“We want Levy and Martin to know that we’re available to help effort to retain key faculty members and researchers,” Hyman said.

In addition to stressing the importance of Beth Israel Deaconess’ health for the medical school’s educational mission, Summers has been speaking out about a vision for a biomedical version of Silicon Valley, centered around Harvard and Boston.

In a speech at Beth Israel Deaconess, Summers said that Harvard had

“a remarkable opportunity” to become a leading center of “biomedical research and thought.”

Hyman said the health of Harvard’s teaching hospitals would be central to any such effort.

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.