In a move that shook the foundations of authority at the University of Virginia Health System, 128 disaffected doctors and other medical professionals there signed a letter of discontent—delineating grievances and demanding regime change.
The communication, delivered to the University Board of Visitors, overtly stipulated the unseating of Craig Kent, chief executive officer of UVA Health; and Melina Kibbe, dean of the School of Medicine, professor, and chief health affairs officer.
Among other things, the dispatch cited a “culture of fear,” “compromised patient safety,” “excessive” executive spending, and ethical violations.
Almost immediately, Goliath struck back, first with a feather, then with a hammer.
Dean Kibbe, in a September 6 email to UVA School of Medicine alumni, touted accomplishments and downplayed concerns, emphasizing:
- A commitment to “understand” faculty concerns
- The institution’s 10-year strategic plan “to improve the patient experience”
- Scientific discoveries
- Advanced education and training opportunities
- Growth in research funding
- Expanded access to services
- Recruitment of “world-class” leaders
- High rankings in “patient safety”
- A call for “good-faith” conversations
Subsequent communications were not so subtle.
UVA President, Jim Ryan, issued a stern and minimizing rebuttal to Medical School Faculty, regarding the letter, stating:
- The letter is “daunting”
- It contains “many accusations”
- There are few details
- Some of the referenced “matters” already have been addressed
- Claims are “generalized and anonymous”
- Ryan and others have been working in “good faith” to rectify “challenges raised”
- That the faculty letter was an “unfortunate” route to take
- The letter “besmirched the reputations” of Melina, Craig, and others
- The allegations have unfairly “cast a shadow over the great work of the entire health system and medical school”
- That only 9 percent of faculty were represented by this letter (a number in line with national med-school faculty dissatisfaction rates)
- That complainants are bypassing “due process” in their demands
- The letter is “harshly critical” in its appraisal of the subjects
- An investigation into the charges will be undertaken
- UVA will not retaliate against these whistleblowers
- Ryan is disinclined to change leadership
Ryan’s missive was followed by a September 9 “Letter to the Editor” from UVA Health System Board Member, Bill Crutchfield, writing on his own behalf, and furthering Ryan’s points, with less restraint. Crutchfield notes:
- Kent and Kibbe are deserving of “enormous credit” for their professional successes at UVA
- The letter represents “less than 1/10 of one percent” of UVA Health’s 18,000 employees
- The opinions expressed within do not represent a broad cross-section of faculty and staff
- The referenced “exodus” of UVA Health faculty talent can be refuted by numerical analysis
- The institutional “culture” of UVA Health has improved dramatically in recent years
- Allegations of “excessive” executive spending are “naïve”
- UVA Health “maintained profitability” during the pandemic lockdowns, for which Kent deserves credit
- The letter writers, in violation of the Hippocratic Oath have contributed to the harm of UVA Health and its patients
Multiple insider correspondences received by the Schilling Show express concern over UVA Health’s ability to attract and retain new talent due to alleged working-condition deficiencies, as referenced in the faculty letter.
Diametrically opposed statements from the opposing parties make it difficult for the public to ascertain where truth lies, but UVA’s prompt and forceful response illuminates the potential institutional damage wrought by such allegations, if substantiated.
