Dive Brief:
- UNC Health CEO and University of North Carolina School of Medicine Dean Wesley Burks will step down from his post effective Sept. 1 to invest more time in developing North Carolina Children’s Hospital, a fledgling project between UNC and Duke Health, and attend to the needs of a family member.
- Cristy Page, president of UNC Health Enterprises and chief academic officer, will serve as interim CEO and dean upon Burks’ departure.
- The health system will then begin a search for its next CEO and dean in collaboration with the broader UNC System and UNC-Chapel Hill, the system’s flagship academic campus.
Dive Insight:
Burks is leaving in part to focus on the system’s newest venture — a partnership with Duke Health, announced in January, to build the state’s first children’s hospital. The $2 billion project is expected to break ground in 2027, and the 500-bed hospital is expected to be operational at some point in the 2030s, according to the health systems.
During Burks’ time at UNC Health, he held multiple roles including executive dean for the medical school, chair of the pediatrics department and physician-in-chief at UNC Children’s Hospital. Burks served as CEO at UNC Health since 2018.
The next CEO will step in as academic health systems are increasingly facing pressure to alter their operations including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and others that regulate gender-affirming care.
UNC Health, which is compromised of 20 hospitals and more than 900 clinics, along with the clinical patient care programs of the UNC School of Medicine, has been the target of state efforts to curtail its DEI programs since last year.
In September, UNC Health replaced its DEI department with a Community Health and Engagement department at the direction of the UNC System Board of Governors, according to a report from WHQR Public Media. The health system also cut roles in the medical school and changed curricula to comply with the mandate, according to a report from The Daily Tar Heel.
Research agendas are also on the chopping block.
After Trump moved to cut indirect funding for medical research and began to halt funding for National Institutes for Health grants, a spokesperson for UNC Health told Healthcare Dive the health system stood to lose $150 million in funds.
In March, the academic system, including the medical school, received multiple stop work orders on NIH grants and saw delays on requests for new funding. While the proposed 15% cap on indirect research funds is currently on pause as litigation proceeds, significant uncertainty remains as to whether research dollars will come in as expected this year.
