Stephen Leffler, MD, has been named CEO of Burlington-based University of Vermont Health, effective Jan. 5.
Dr. Leffler had served as interim CEO since October and led the system through early phases of strategic realignment. He succeeded Sunny Eappen, MD, who stepped down earlier in the fall, according to a Jan. 5 health system news release.
Dr. Leffler has held several leadership roles over his 30-year tenure at UVM Health and University of Vermont Medical Center, including chief population health and quality officer for the health system and president and COO of UVM Medical Center. He will continue in his role as president of the medical center.
During his interim leadership, Dr. Leffler focused on stabilization efforts and restoring operational decision-making closer to the point of care, the release said. He told Becker’s in December that UVM Health has committed to not cut any clinical services in 2026 despite significant financial pressure.
“To do that, everything’s a balance,” Dr. Leffler said. “If you’re going to have your expenses come down, without cutting clinical services, there has to be give on the support structures or the other functions that support that.”
UVM Health comprises an academic medical center, two community hospitals, three critical access hospitals, a children’s hospital, a cancer center, a multispecialty medical group, 154 outpatient sites and four skilled nursing facilities.
