CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The former head of UVA Health is pushing back against allegations made by more than 30 doctors that his practices, policies, and procedures caused harm to patients.
Dr. Craig Kent, who resigned last year, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the lawyers who prepared a report detailing the physicians’ concerns.
The report, authored by the law firm Jones Swanson Huddell LLC, contains detailed accounts from three dozen doctors at UVA Health describing concerns they had during Kent's tenure as CEO.
Among the allegations, the report claims Kent pressured a pediatric cancer doctor to perform a procedure without the necessary staffing, equipment and supplies. It also alleges he insisted on hiring and promoting unqualified cardiothoracic surgeons.
Furthermore, the report states that when physicians warned Kent and his leadership team that certain changes were endangering patients, they were dismissed and disciplined for not being "team players."
Kent is now suing the lawyers who prepared the report, claiming they engaged in a defamatory campaign to oust him by publishing false accusations.
According to Kent's lawsuit, after receiving the report in February 2025, a member of the UVA governing board warned other board members and then-University President Jim Ryan that if Kent was not gone by 6 p.m. that day, the report would be sent to the Washington Post.
Kent claims Ryan called him that afternoon and asked him to resign.
Tom Scully, who led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the early 2000s and is a former member of the UVA Health System's governing board, said he resigned in outrage shortly after Kent left.
"I didn't know Craig until I took this job. So it's not like Craig's an old friend of mine," Scully said.
"I observed him for three and a half years. I've been around for a longtime doing this stuff, and I think he got screwed beyond belief, pardon my French," Scully said.
In his lawsuit, Kent says he was hired to turn around a flagging healthsystem. He claims that during his tenure, surgeries, cancer care, ER visits, and hospitalizations increased dramatically, and that qualityalso improved.
Kent points to mortality rates that dropped to their lowest level in 10 years, according to his lawsuit. His suit also says the health system's operating revenue nearly doubled under his leadership, and UVA honored his achievements with a contract extension.
"Look, I, I've been as involved anybody in the country in healthcare. Last 45 years, lots of health systems were struggling and doing poorly. And UVA, when I left, was probably kicking off $250, $300 million of free cash flow a year, which was highly unusual. I think it was perceived as being well run," Scully said.
CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit asked Scully how he would respond to the potential public perception that Kent was putting profits over patients.
"Craig may not have been the greatest diplomat with the positions, which I think was his fundamental problem, even though I thought he was, my observation was he was doing everything right. You know, I think the number one thing he did wrong... was he came in about a year and a half in his tenure, and said, 'I'm going to do physician pay reform,' Well, the physician payment in Charlottesville was outrageously out of whack, and it had been for years," Scully said.
Scully told CBS 6 the report concerned him when he first read it, but not after he later went through it with a fine-tooth comb.
"A lot of it was completely made up and is unfounded," Scully said. "And the accusations in there are 99 point, as far as I can tell, and I think everybody else has looked at it, 99.9% contrived."
One of Kent's lawyers said he is looking forward to clearing his name.
Meanwhile, the attorneys being sued by Kent sent a statement in response to the lawsuit.
"In the fall of 2024, 128 UVA physicians refused to be intimidated and stood up to report wrongdoing at UVA Health. As lawyers for many of those physicians, we will also not be intimidated by a complaint filed in an improper attempt to influence the outcome of litigation brought by some of these courageous doctors," the attorneys said.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
Watch Melissa Hipolit's reporting on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com. Have something for Melissa to investigate? Email her.
