Two more UVA Health leaders leave

More leadership changes are underway at UVA Health following the February resignation of its CEO, Craig Kent.

Melina Kibbe, dean of the School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health, and Wendy Horton, CEO of the University Medical Center, will both leave UVA for other positions.

Kibbe will serve as president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, according to a July 14 statement from the University of Texas System Board of Regents. Colin Derdeyn (Col class of ’84, Med class of ’88) will serve as the interim dean.

In September 2024, a group of 128 faculty members from the UVA Physicians Group sent the Board of Visitors a no-confidence letter calling for Kibbe and Kent to be removed. The letter cited “egregious acts” it said had led to compromised patient safety, a culture of fear and retaliation, and excessive spending.

Kent resigned after the Board of Visitors received the results of an investigation into the allegations on Feb. 25. In a letter to the UVA Health community, then-President Jim Ryan (Law class of ’92) wrote that there were “sufficient concerns about leadership and trust that Kent recognized would make it difficult to remain in his position, which is why Kent stepped down.” That letter didn’t mention Kibbe.

Horton, who was not named in the no-confidence letter, will serve in a leadership role at the University of California San Francisco Health Center starting in September, according to a statement from UVA Health’s interim CEO, Mitch Rosner (Res class of ’00, Fellow class of ’02).