The Board of Visitors’ Health System Board heard a financial report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, from Stephanie Schnittger, U.Va. Health chief financial officer, during their meeting Thursday. The Board additionally heard a presentation from Jonathan Lindner, professor of medicine and University vice-chief for research for the cardiovascular division regarding current cardiovascular research studies.
The Health System Board oversees and governs the subsidiaries of the Medical Center — including the School of Nursing, School of Medicine and U.Va. Community Health.
During open session of Thursday’s meeting, Schnittger reported a positive financial performance for quarter one of fiscal year 2026. She said the system had predicted to end the quarter with just a $3 million operating margin but instead ended with a $55 million operating margin. The operating margin for the quarter was $71 million higher than it was for quarter one of the 2025 fiscal year, according to Schnittger.
She attributed the budget surplus to a number of reasons, but namely that both outpatient and inpatient hospital stay lengths have decreased and payer mix has been strong, meaning the hospital has been profiting more from patients’ health insurance.
“We’ve had strong experience in terms of controlling our costs and throughput inefficiency … and that has created cost efficiencies that are contributing to the favorable margins,” Schnittger said.
Mitchell Rosner, executive vice president for U.Va. Health, began Thursday’s open session with remarks of gratitude for all Health System Board members. He highlighted that small acts made by “unsung heroes” are what defines the operations and impact of the health system.
"It's nice to be able to talk about the huge discoveries and the great breakthroughs, but ultimately, when you're caring for the people who are most vulnerable in society and times are very difficult for them and their families, it's those small gestures that matter,” Rosner said.
Rosner again thanked the hard work of the Board’s members, saying he works with an “incredible” team of professionals and introduced Lindner to present current research projects ongoing in the cardiovascular department. Lindner discussed multiple researchers who have work ranging from studying how damaged heart cells can be replenished to restore a heart after injury, to how artificial intelligence can be used to predict medications or treatments needed for patients with heart failure.
Lindner also explained the funding sources for the researcher — he said that across fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025, the cardiovascular research enterprise at U.Va. Health received approximately $20 million in funding and just over half of that came from the National Institutes of Health and other federal sources.
Lindner further noted there are 14 NIH funded Principal Investigators — the lead researchers of a team — within the system’s cardiovascular research division and that three of those PIs are funded by a K awards. An NIH K award is a career development award given to a PI in the early stages of their work and Lindner said those grants secure “the future of this whole research enterprise.”
Board members had the opportunity to ask questions following the end of Lindner’s presentation and one member asked Lindner if the system was adequately staffed with Intellectual Property lawyers for the sake of clinical faculty and their resources. Lindner responded, saying that is an issue he thinks needs further consideration, as universities are becoming “incubators” for large pharmaceutical companies to obtain low-cost research.
“I think we need lawyers that can be more innovative in helping us get to the place that we’re trying to [get to] inside the [division], and help these researchers be able to negotiate way better deals with the [biotechnology] or the [pharmaceutical] companies,” Lindner said.
Not discussed during Thursday’s meeting but released publicly online prior, were written reports for the system’s Medical Center, School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Medical Center highlights include the U.Va. Children’s Hospital receiving the No. 1 ranking in Virginia Oct. 7 by U.S. News and World Report for the fifth consecutive year. Additionally, the U.Va. Health University Medical Center mobile care unit began seeing patients living in Greene County, Va., in October, with a goal to ease access to primary care.
According to the report, monthly visits will be made by the mobile care unit to the Greene County Senior Center and will provide general checkups and chronic disease management for patients.
The School of Medicine reported the Department of Biomedical Engineering launched the University’s first academic department-level sustainability plan. The report states the plan outlines eco-friendly practices to be made through 2030 and puts the department as a “leader” for sustainability in health sciences.
The School of Nursing was also ranked by U.S. News and World Report in October, according to the Board’s written report. The school ranked No. 13 in the nation for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree for 2026, which remains unchanged from the 2025 ranking.
Between Lindner’s and Schnittger’s presentations, the Board met in closed session to discuss operations of the Medical Center, School of Medicine and School of Nursing. The meeting agenda states disclosure of the discussions would affect the "competitive position” of those enterprises.
The Health System Board will reconvene during the meetings of the Board March 5 and March 6.
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