Mr. Scully wrote a six-page letter shared with university officials and the Progress, detailing the “toxic forces” that led to Dr. Kent’s exit.
Dr. Kent resigned as CEO of the Charlottesville-based health system and as the university’s executive vice president for health affairs Feb. 25, following a special meeting wherein the university’s board of visitors and UVA President James Ryan were briefed on findings from an independent investigation into the health system.
The resignation came months after a Sept. 5 no confidence letter was signed by 128 UVA Physicians Group-employed faculty against Dr. Kent and Melina Kibbe, MD, dean of the school of medicine.
Less than two weeks after the letter was delivered, the university called on Washington, D.C.-based law firm Williams & Connolly to investigate the allegations. Mr. Scully alleged in his letter that a member of the board of visitors selected the law firm with the intention of removing Dr. Kent.
“There was no whiff of fairness or objectivity — it was clear and obvious that they were being directed to a preconceived outcome,” Mr. Scully wrote, according to the Progress.
Mr. Scully also claimed that the physicians’ letter stemmed from UVA Health’s physician payment reforms, implemented in summer 2024, according to the report.
“Having been at this for 45 years, I am certain that the vast bulk of the 128 — and their practice groups — would have been on the negative end of the ‘equitable performance-based redistribution’ of University physician payment reform,” Mr. Scully wrote.
The September letter from physicians accused Drs. Kent and Kibbe of fostering a negative work environment that compromised patient safety and engaging in “egregious acts,” including hiring physicians despite quality concerns, threatening faculty who raised safety issues, and using promotion and tenure delays as retaliation.
Mr. Scully, a healthcare attorney, was one of the board’s five nonvoting public members, according to the Progress.
A university spokesperson shared the following statement from board Rector Robert Hardie and Chair of UVA Board of Visitors Audit Committee Rachel Sheridan with Becker’s:
“Coming out of the investigation, the board and Mr. Ryan have determined that there is no basis for corrective action as it relates to healthcare billing or other regulatory compliance issues. As it relates to other issues in the Sept. 5 letter concerning leadership and culture, Mr. Ryan, following his acceptance of the resignation of Dr. Kent, will be working closely with Acting Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Mitchell Rosner, MD, to evaluate the best pathway to move forward.”
