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Dear Colleagues, 

I am excited to announce that Erik Shannon has been named CEO of UVA Community Health, transitioning from interim CEO status, effective immediately. 

Erik has been the interim CEO of UVA Community Health for the past 12 months, during which time his leadership has effectively and swiftly advanced our goal of integrating UVA Community Health into UVA Health. During his time as interim CEO, Erik played a key role in immediately stabilizing the UVA Community Health team and creating a culture of engagement and transparency across the organization. He has been tremendous at building relationships with a variety of stakeholders throughout the UVA Health system and also within the communities it serves. 

By leading with intentionality and integrity, Erik was able to quickly build a foundation of trust that enabled several impactful changes in a short time, including leading a significant reorganization of UVA Community Health and its subsidiaries to drive better alignment. In partnership with UVA Health leadership, Erik has strengthened relationships with UVA Community Health medical staff physicians. He and his team have developed a strategic plan that enhances the care and services provided by UVA Community Health in Northern Virginia and Culpeper, including the recruitment of more than 50 new physicians and providers to increase the services available to patients. Finally, Erik has been a key executive sponsor and champion for the integration and go-live of UVA Community Health on UVA Health’s instance of the Epic electronic medical record, which took place last week for UVA Health Prince William Medical center, UVA Health Haymarket Medical Center and UVA Community Health Medical Group facilities. 

Prior to joining as interim CEO last year, Erik, with more than 30 years of healthcare strategy experience, had been a Partner at Grant Thorton, a global consulting and advisory services firm that has been leading UVA Health’s integration of UVA Community Health. Through that role, Erik accumulated deep knowledge of all of UVA Community Health’s operations, making him the ideal candidate for the initial interim CEO role. His exemplary leadership over the past 12 months now makes him an equally ideal candidate for the permanent role. 

As part of the UVA Health leadership team, Erik will continue to lead UVA Community Health’s senior leadership team in ensuring excellent patient care, which has become the hallmark of UVA Health, as well as maintaining the focus on implementing our collective strategic plan. 

I am incredibly excited about our future. The integration of UVA Community Health into the larger UVA Health System has achieved many key milestones since the acquisition was announced in 2021. Many team members and leaders are diligently delivering across all defined goals as the transition continues, with an eye toward bringing UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center into our platforms within this fiscal year. We have been more successful than I could have ever imagined and I am truly proud of how our teams are embracing this incredible opportunity.

Thank you, as always, for your extraordinary dedication to our patients and communities. Please join me in congratulating Erik Shannon on his accomplishments to date and many more to come! 

With gratitude,

K. Craig Kent, MD
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Health
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Virginia