The University of Virginia Board of Visitors is meeting this week, and likely at the top of the agenda, is a demand for the “immediate removal” of two employees for allegedly creating a culture of fear and retaliation, according to 120 professors and healthcare workers who signed a letter of no confidence.
The letter calls for the immediate resignations of K. Craig Kent, MD, UVA Health Chief Executive Officer, and Melina R. Kibbe, MD, the UVA School of Medicine dean and UVA Health chief health affairs officer, and it puts the BOV “on notice of this urgent matter of patient safety and public concern.”
The five-page letter, originally published on the Cavalier Daily’s website, was delivered to the BOV on Sept. 5.
The letter reads that Kent and Kibbe have “directly attacked the values that inspired us to study, teach, and work at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and UVA Health.”
Kent and Kibbe, the letter reads, “foster a negative environment that is contributing to an ongoing exodus of experience and expertise at all levels that contravenes our mission to provide excellent – and safe – patient care.”
The letter alleges compromised patient safety, a culture of fear and retaliation, patient safety and public concern, devaluing the academic standards of promotions and tenure, excessive spending on executives, a failure to be forthcoming on significant financial matters and violating the approved code of ethics. The letter also says Kent and Kibbe have subjected residents to bullying and harassment.
“We sign this letter of no confidence as a last resort out of urgent concern for our patients, colleagues, community and the University of Virginia.”
The letter urges to board to “select new leaders for UVA Health and the UVA School of Medicine who are committed to upholding UVA’s cherished values; defending academic freedom and free speech; and most importantly recommitting to exception patient care, safety, and the well-being of our doctors, nurses, and staff.”
Kent and Kibbe sent an email to UVA Health and School of Medicine employees on Monday in response to the no confidence letter.
It reads in part that it is “difficult to read stories and accusations that don’t reflect the culture we have built and are striving to mature, or the phenomenal care you are providing each and every day.”
The email continues: “We spend every day working for the betterment of our health system and the university, and the many communities we serve.”
UVA President Jim Ryan has said he will reserve “final judgement” until a thorough review is completed and promised to take the allegations seriously. He said the letter is “daunting” with “many accusations” and “few details.”
Ryan said no one connected to the letter will face reprisal.
“Criticism must not only be allowed but welcomed, and those who raise objections should obviously be prepared for disagreement but never face any fear of retaliation,” he said in a letter to the medical school faculty.
Ryan said they will take “appropriate steps” based on what they find.
“Once the dust of this particular controversy settles, we will figure out how best to move forward as a community,” Ryan wrote.
Ryan also said it was “unfortunate” that faculty chose the letter as a way to address the internal matters.
“They have besmirched the reputations of not just Melina and Craig. 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.”
No signatures were included on the letter to “protect the faculty.” However, the letter says they will “verify the signatures should this be requested” by the BOV.
Ryan said that 128 faculty represent roughly 9 percent of the medical school faculty. Ryan has received testimonials from some of the 1200-plus faculty who did not sign the letter since it was released.
“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 1400 faculty members and thousands more health system team members.”
Kent was also part of a group of executives at The Ohio State University that previously was the subject of another no confidence letter where he was accused of betraying the academic mission of OSU and for fostering low morale among faculty.
Kent’s contract was recently extended for five years through Jan. 31, 2030. His annual salary is $1.6 million, according to reporting by The Daily Progress. Kibbe’s five-year contract expires in 2026. She earns $829,000 per year according to the report.
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Crystal Graham
