Michael Rao, PhD, president of Richmond, Va.-based VCU Health and the university system, should exit his post in the wake of a report criticizing leadership over a failed downtown medical office project, former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder told Richmond BizSense in an interview published June 20.
Rapid management turnover, a lack of due diligence and insufficient real estate expertise were noted among the report's reasons for the failed project, which has left VCU Health on the hook for at least $80 million.
"I would imagine that this is not anything that the boards nor Rao would ever have expected," Mr. Wilder told Richmond BizSense.
That said, the former governor stressed that the report itself was limited in its scope, not least because it was done by a group Dr. Rao hired.
"You cannot investigate yourself," Mr. Wilder said. "It's important for the attorney general and the governor to speak up right now."
VCU Health interim CEO Marlon Levy has admitted that there should have been more attention paid to the financial issues surrounding the project.
The project's failure has not served the people of Virginia, Mr. Wilder concluded.
"What it amounts to is the Board of Visitors has not done its job," he said. "The president has not done his job. The attorney general has not done his job."