Dear Colleagues:

It is with regret that I write to inform you that Pete Gilbert, chief operating officer (COO) and senior vice president, has been named chief operating officer of University of Cincinnati Health (UC Health), effective June 12, 2015. Pete has been a long-standing colleague of mine and an outstanding leader at this University. I know I speak for our entire University family in saying that we will greatly miss his leadership and wise counsel.

At UC Health, Pete will work with president and CEO Richard Lofgren, MD, a health care leader with whom we both worked at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. UC Health created the position of COO to provide strong and supportive operations leadership for all of the system's clinical services and programs, including hospitals, clinics, ambulatory services, post-acute services, and all systemwide support functions.

Here at UMB, Pete has been responsible for leading the operational, financial, and planning efforts of the University. He has led optimal high-level planning, organizational management, organizational accountability, and Universitywide initiatives. Pete also is responsible for leading operational efforts for collaborative initiatives with other institutions. The offices of information technology, administration and finance, and government and community relations, as well as the UMB Police Force, report directly to him.

Two of Pete's greatest contributions to UMB include co-chairing the planning committee for the University's 2011-2016 Strategic Plan and leading the plan's Executive Implementation Committee, and serving as a member of the steering committee of University of Maryland: MPowering the State, a structured collaboration between UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park. I also am very appreciative of his visionary leadership in working with me to form our community initiative and establish the Office of Community Engagement.

Pete has been my close colleague since our days in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's pediatrics department in the '90s. He then joined me as my administrator at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics from 1999 to 2004, and when I became dean of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, I appointed him associate dean for administration and finance. I again asked Pete to join me here at UMB when I became president in 2010.

My leadership team and I are thinking through the best way to move forward, seamlessly conducting the business of the University. I will not at this point be naming an interim COO. I will be sure to share decisions with you when further plans are in place.

I know I speak for the entire University community when I say how grateful I am to Pete for his leadership and dedication to UMB. I hope you join me in extending best wishes to Pete in Cincinnati. I will miss him, and he will surely be missed by all of those who have had the privilege of working with him.

Sincerely, 


Jay A. Perman, MD
President