UNC Health CEO, dean of medical school to step down

Dr. William Roper, who has built UNC Health Care into one of the state's largest hospital and physician networks and made the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill into a top national medical institution, plans to step down next year as the top executive of both.

"I know that our team is well equipped to continue taking on the challenges of a rapidly evolving medical and health care landscape," Roper said in a statement. "Our mission, our patients and our providers are in good hands."

Roper, 69, has served as chief executive of UNC Health Care, dean of the School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs since 2004. He plans to step down on May 15, 2019, and the university and health care system said they would soon start a nationwide search for his successor.

Under Roper’s leadership, UNC Health Care has expanded into a statewide system with more than a dozen hospitals, including its flagship in Chapel Hill, Rex Hospital in Raleigh and hospitals in Smithfield, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro and Siler City. The system has more than 30,000 employees and nearly $5 billion in annual revenue.

A planned merger with Charlotte-based Atrium Health, which would have created North Carolina's largest health network, fell through in March, however, because the two sides couldn't reach an agreement.

"Without question, Dr. Roper has a proven track record of service to our state, our people and to our future health," Dale Jenkins, chairman of the UNC Health Care Board of Directors, said in a statement. "Throughout a long career of public service, he has made an impact on health care nationally, but most importantly, he has elevated health care to new levels here in North Carolina."

At the UNC School of Medicine, total research funding has increased more than 50 percent during Roper's tenure, to $441 million last year. He opened doors for medical students to train in Asheville, Charlotte and Wilmington, and the school now trains more than 2,400 inter-professional health care providers and medical students annually.

"Dr. Roper has championed a broad range of innovative teaching, treatment and patient-care initiatives that have expanded and rippled across our state to provide patients with quality, accessible and affordable health care," UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt said in a statement. "Bill has provided a remarkable record of leadership, always with the people of North Carolina in his heart and on his mind."

"Since Dr. Roper arrived at UNC, he has leveraged his expertise, experience and political acumen to guide this institution’s medical program and the state’s health care system into the 21st century," UNC President Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "His robust vision has ensured that we will be ready to meet the needs of our state’s aging and growing population."