As UVA Health begins its “One Future Together” strategic planning process – encompassing everything from enhancing patient care, research and education to addressing health equity – health system leaders are seeking feedback from the entire University and community.

Dr. K. Craig Kent, chief executive officer of UVA Health, said it is an important time to develop a strategic plan to guide the health system forward over the next decade.

“I want to thank everyone at UVA Health for the tremendous service they have provided over the last year and a half,” Kent said. “It has been challenging, but we should be proud as a health system of what we’ve accomplished. As I had conversations with people throughout the health system, it became clear that we are all anxious to look forward, to see that light at the end of the tunnel, to know there’s a future for us. And I know the future for UVA Health will be bright.”

The health system has extraordinary potential, he said, and developing a strategic plan enables the institution to better understand and achieve that potential.

“It’s the right time for all of us to become excited about the future and to begin to imagine and create that future,” Kent said.

Along with the three traditional missions of academic health systems – high-quality patient care, biomedical research that improves lives, and training the next generation of health care providers – the strategic planning process will include a fourth area of focus.

“I don’t think any academic health system can create a strategic plan without thinking about and engaging our community and addressing health equity. And so that’s a fourth mission area,” said Jason Lineen, UVA Health’s chief strategy officer.

The strategic planning process will take a detailed look into multiple areas, including the health system’s facilities and workforce needs, Kent said, all of which will benefit patients.

“We’ll explore many different areas, and if we’re successful in growing these areas, our patients will be the benefactor,” he said.

As the health system works to produce a draft of the strategic plan by the end of 2021, community members and UVA Health team members are invited to submit their feedback and ideas on the One Future Together website or via email at onefuturetogether@virginia.edu.

“We will read every comment. We will take every comment seriously,” Kent said. “Please take advantage of these different opportunities to reach out to us. We want to hear from you.”