A message from President Drake about Dr. Carrie Byington stepping down as EVP of UC Health

On Monday, Dec. 5, President Drake issued the following announcement to the UC Board of Regents.

Dear Regents,

I am writing today to share the news that Dr. Carrie L. Byington will be stepping down as the Executive Vice President of UC Health, effective June 30, 2023. Carrie has been an integral and effective part of our leadership team and is a trusted friend and colleague. Her transition will allow her to better balance work with family and personal commitments. I will be launching a national search in January for her successor.

Dr. Byington joined UC Health in October 2019, just two months before the world was forever changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately for us her infectious disease and pediatric expertise proved invaluable throughout the pandemic. Her contributions to the UC Management Response Team and Council of Chancellors were prescient and timely. She established the UC Health COVID-19 Coordinating Committee which brought together hundreds of faculty researchers, clinicians, and administrators to tackle challenges from testing and monitoring modelling and return-to-campus protocols, to vaccine distribution management, hospital crisis standards of care, and long-COVID treatment. This was an amazing body of work. It made a real, tangible difference for us and the people of California and beyond.  

Carrie also played a key role in the contracting and organizing of two temporary shelters established by the federal government for the housing and care of unaccompanied minors at the border. This work brought together resources from across all the UC Health locations to provide for the health needs of thousands of children during the summer of 2021. The recently published paper, “Academic Health Centers and Humanitarian Crises: One Health System’s Response to Unaccompanied Children at the Border” highlights the University’s powerful capabilities to deliver the public service mission when we work together. 

More broadly, Dr. Byington has provided leadership and vision to the ongoing work of the UC Health division, including expansion of PRIME programs and DEI initiatives, development of systemwide data capabilities through the Center for Data Driven Insights, progress in health access and equity in population health, cancer care, and student health, an all-hands effort to bid on a fourth national lab opportunity, and more. 

I have asked Dr. Byington to serve as a special advisor to me after her tenure as EVP concludes next year. Please join me in thanking Carrie for her leadership and vision throughout this critical period.

Sincerely, 

Michael V. Drake, M.D.

President