Last week, more than 120 University of Virginia School of Medicine faculty and UVa Health workers sent a letter to the school’s governing Board of Visitors alleging “egregious acts” committed by the heads of the two organizations.
But their demand for the immediate removal of the two executives likely will not be met.
In response to the letter of no confidence in UVa Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent and School of Medicine Dean Dr. Melina Kibbe, university President Jim Ryan sent a letter of his own to the 1,400 faculty members of the School of Medicine on Saturday. In it, he says the school will look into the claims — “even though it is difficult to investigate generalized and anonymous claims of wrongdoing” — but also asserts that Kent and Kibbe are the reason the university health system “is in the best shape it has ever been in.”
“The letter itself is daunting,” said Ryan. “There are many accusations. There are few details.”
“At this point in time I find it difficult to believe that the right answer here is to force yet another change in leadership, only to bring in new leadership who will inevitably fail to satisfy 1,400 faculty members and thousands more health system team members,” he added.
Employee dissatisfaction is to be expected, according to the president, who cites a national statistic showing that roughly 8% to 9% of medical school faculty are dissatisfied. This represents the same percentage of UVa professors and health care workers who anonymously signed the letter of no confidence.
In order to authenticate the letter, the authors did agree to meet in person with four members of the Board of Visitors, including Rachel Sheridan and Porter Wilkinson, the chair and vice chair of the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee, as well as Stephen Long and David Okonkwo, both medical professionals with experience in academic health systems. Ryan did not make it on that list.
“They have besmirched the reputations of not just Melina and Craig,” said Ryan, who noted that the 128 signatories did not suggest that the two be “afforded due process” but instead demanded they immediately resign. “Instead, through some of their allegations, they have unfairly — and I trust unwittingly — cast a shadow over the great work of the entire health system and medical school.”
The contents of the letter have sent shockwaves through the health system and greater Charlottesville community. Saying the pair of executives has created a “culture of fear and retaliation” that is threatening patient safety, the 128 signatories of the five-page document also allege that Kibbe and Kent:
■ Allocated money to their cadre of executive colleagues despite shortages at the clinical level.■ Turned a blind eye as senior leaders tampered with billing and patient records to modify adverse outcomes and productivity.■ Wielded promotions as a means to intimidate and retaliate against those who spoke up out of concern for patients.■ Pressured medical personnel to not officially report concerns regarding patient safety.■ Ignored integrity and quality standards during the hiring process.■ And explicitly threatened those who spoke out against them.
The letter goes on to claim that UVa Health and the School of Medicine’s failure to protect those making confidential reports and their practice of fraudulent billing stands in direct violation of the professional code of conduct detailed in the UVa faculty handbook. The handbook is approved by the Board of Visitors.
“Craig Kent and Melina Kibbe have not only undermined but also directly attacked the values that inspired us to study, teach and work at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and UVa Health,” reads the letter. “[They] foster a negative environment that is contributing to an ongoing exodus of experience and expertise at all levels that contravenes with our mission to provide excellent — and safe — patient care.”
Not all of the accusations came as a surprise to Ryan. Over the past several months, the president and UVa Provost Ian Baucom have been meeting with groups of UVa Health and School of Medicine employees to listen to and address some of their concerns. University officials seemed to view these conversations as productive, which is why Ryan expressed his “disappointment” in the 128 signatories who decided to take a more public approach.
The signatories have a different perspective, saying their letter was a “last resort” made “out of urgent concern for our patients, colleagues, community, and the University of Virginia.”
“Some of these accusations are fairly evident references to specific matters that we have already addressed or are actively working on,” said Ryan. “Others are new to us, but we will do our best to run them to the ground and get to the bottom of them.”
The university will conduct a review into all of the allegations against the Charlottesville-based health system, which employs close to 30,000 people across the commonwealth. Though disappointed in the “unusual and unfortunate way in which they have been presented,” Ryan assured the 128 people behind the letter of no confidence, all members of the UVa Physicians Group, they will not face any retaliation for speaking out.
This is not the first time Kent has been on the wrong end of a letter of no confidence.
Prior to taking the helm of UVa Health in 2020, Kent served as dean of the Ohio State University School of Medicine. A letter of no confidence was sent to the then-CEO of the school’s Wexner Medical Center, Sheldon Retchin, in 2017, claiming that Retchin and his circle of high-level colleagues, including Kent, had cultivated a hostile work environment for employees.
The 2017 letter explicitly called out Kent, who had only been with the Ohio State health system for seven months at the time, saying he had already shown “an emerging pattern of leadership in line with the style promulgated by Dr. Retchin.”
At a meeting in December, UVa’s Board of Visitors approved a five-year extension of Kent’s contract, lasting through Jan. 31, 2030. Kent, who is already the highest-paid employee at UVa, secured a $500,000 raise this year, bringing his annual salary to $1.6 million.
Kibbe, who began her five-year contract as dean and chief health affairs officer for UVa Health in September 2021, is the third-highest earner at UVa with a salary of $829,000. Prior to UVa, Kibbe served as chair of the surgery department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“I will reserve final judgment in this instance until we have done a thorough review,” Ryan says in his letter. “I think the real work, regardless, is to come together as a community to have a conversation—a real, honest, and ongoing conversation—about how to manage change.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com