The University of Virginia has appointed Mitchell Rosner, MD, to a three-year term as UVA’s executive vice president for health affairs and chief executive officer of UVA Health.
Rosner, who has served as UVA’s interim executive vice president for health affairs for seven months, was named to the position near the end of Friday’s UVA Board of Visitors meeting.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Rosner said. “I’ve devoted my career to UVA and UVA Health, so this is the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to serve my colleagues, my friends and the community that I have lived in so long.”
Rosner’s appointment came after more than two dozen chairs and leaders at UVA Health sent a letter to UVA’s rector and interim president asking them to give Rosner the role permanently.
“During his brief tenure as Interim EVP for Health Affairs, Dr. Rosner has gained and fostered the trust and respect of our faculty and lent much needed stability to a tumultuous period for UVA Health,” the leaders wrote.
After reading the leaders’ praise for Rosner, UVA Interim President Paul Mahoney suggested waiving a national search for the position. Rector Rachel Sheridan, with the support of the full board, agreed.
“In the short time I have been privileged to work with Mitch, I have been impressed with his judgment and inspirational leadership,” Mahoney said. “He is the right person to lead UVA’s health system forward. I look forward to our continued work together.”
Taison Bell, MD, interim chair of the UVA Department of Medicine and one of the letter’s signatories, said Rosner is an ideal choice.
“Mitch is the kind of leader you read about in leadership books. His communication style is approachable, open and honest. He listens carefully while bringing people together to make thoughtful, inclusive decisions,” he said. “He deeply considers how his decisions will impact others, and he consistently seeks ways to empower others around him to lead. Beyond his vision and integrity, it is this genuine commitment to people that sets him apart. I can say without hesitation that he is the right person for this role, and UVA will be fortunate to benefit from his leadership.”
Rosner has been a faculty member at the UVA School of Medicine for 21 years and served as chair of the Department of Medicine before being selected to lead the health system.
“I’ve been fortunate and blessed to build a fulfilling career here at UVA,” he said. “I’ve achieved everything I could ask for and more in my development as a physician and as a faculty member here. So the opportunity to give back and serve and help others attain their potential is just a great gift.”
Rosner earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed his residency and fellowship in nephrology – the study of the physiology and diseases of the kidneys – at UVA Health University Medical Center. He has published seven books and more than 200 journal articles.
Rosner said he is heartened that – rather than considering outside candidates – his colleagues, the interim president and the board entrusted him to lead UVA Health. The health system includes four hospitals across Charlottesville, Culpeper and Northern Virginia, along with the UVA School of Medicine, UVA School of Nursing, UVA Physicians Group and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.
He plans to use his three-year tenure to bolster the health system’s core strengths and to support all the team members that make UVA Health “a gem, a world-class institution.”
“When patients walk into our doors, I want them to recognize that there is a sacred obligation to care for them, and we take that seriously,” he said. “They are entrusting themselves to people who not only care about them deeply but have the skill and the expertise as good as any place in the world. They’ll get excellent care by people who are devoted to doing it.”
