Perhaps at risk of being lost in all the news coming out of Friday’s Board of Governors meeting, Dr. Wesley Burks was appointed as the new CEO of UNC Health Care and Dean of the School of Medicine.

Burks previously served as the executive dean of the UNC School of Medicine and has been at the forefront of decades of research into food allergies. Previously, he served as chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the North Carolina Children’s Hospital.

Burks will succeed Dr. William Roper, who will go on to serve as interim president of UNC’s 17-campus system starting in January. Roper was appointed to the position in October but had already announced his intentions to retire from UNC Health Care in May 2019.

Following the announcement, Dr. Burks said he felt prepared for the task ahead of him and pointed to a long career in healthcare and healthcare administration with UNC.

“I really strongly believe in the vision and the mission of UNC Health Care and UNC School of Medicine,” he said. “I have been working in clinical care and research and education for almost three decades.”

Burks said a priority during his tenure will be to improving coordination in patient care between UNC hospitals.

“How do we work together as a system to see the patients, whether its in the rural areas or here in the Triangle. And that’s part of what we’re doing now.”

Photo via UNC – Chapel Hill

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