Dr. Stephen Leffler, President and COO of UVM Medical Center, Highlighted in National ‘Academic Medical Center CEOs to Know’ List for 2023

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Vermont Medical Center’s president and chief operating officer (COO) is among academic medical center leaders highlighted last week by one of the nation’s leading medical news publication.

Stephen Leffler, MD, was named among the ‘101 academic medical center CEOs to know’ for 2023 by Becker’s Hospital Review. The publication noted that Dr. Leffler, who was named UVM Medical Center’s president and COO in January of 2020, has also served as an emergency room physician, chief population health quality officer, and chief medical officer at the Medical Center prior to becoming the hospital’s chief executive.

“The executives featured on this list are trailblazers in the healthcare arena,” Becker’s wrote in a press release announcing publication of the list. “Their leadership results in groundbreaking research discoveries, innovative clinical trials and superior patient experiences. Becker’s Healthcare is excited to feature these accomplished leaders, who are vital to the successes of their respective organizations.”

Dr. Leffler, who worked as an emergency department physician at the Medical Center for 25 years and is also a professor of surgery at the UVM Larner College of Medicine, served as chief Population Health and quality officer for UVM Health Network from 2017 to 2019; he previously served as medical director of the Medical Center’s Emergency Department, president of its medical staff, and president of the Vermont Medical Society.

Since being named the Medical Center’s president and COO, Leffler has guided the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic and overseen the launch of multiple capital improvement and investment projects in Vermont – including UVM Medical Center’s plan to construct a $130 million Outpatient Surgical Center on its Tilly Drive campus, in response to a growing and rapidly-aging regional population and growing demand for complex and outpatient surgical procedures. Under Dr. Leffler’s leadership, the Medical Center has received numerous awards for environmental sustainability, clinical innovations and novel treatment programs, and also embarked upon a multi-year focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work impacting employees and patients.

“I’m honored to be mentioned alongside leaders and clinicians from across the country who are working every day to lead our national conversation about the future of health care,” said Dr. Leffler. “As our region’s academic medical center, UVM Medical Center has a tremendous responsibility to provide high-quality, leading-edge care to our community while also driving not just clinical innovations and advancements, but positive cultural and organizational change. This is work that every member of our organization does together every single day, and I’m incredibly proud of our organization’s commitment to our patients, our people and our community.”