Following a national search, the University of Vermont Health Network has named Sunil “Sunny” Eappen, MD, MBA, as the health system’s next president and CEO, effective Nov 28. He will succeed John R Brumsted, MD, who is retiring after leading the health system for more than 10 years.
Eappen will join the health network from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he currently serves as chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs. In his new role, he will have oversight of all UVM Health Network operations, including the flagship academic medical center, five community hospitals, children’s hospital, multispecialty physicians group, and home health and hospice agency.
“All through the search process, Dr Eappen stood out as an accomplished and inspirational leader whose personal and professional values closely align with the strategic direction of the network,” said Allie Stickney, chair of the UVM Health Network Board of Trustees and CEO Search Committee. “His track record of building partnerships, commitment to health equity and belief in a value-based approach to health care will build upon the strong foundation Dr Brumsted began a decade ago.”
Eappen's appointment comes at a critical time for the health system, which serves more than 1 million patients across Vermont and northern New York. Immediate challenges, shared by hospitals and health systems across the country, include extraordinary cost inflation and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eappen’s expertise and leadership will play a pivotal role in the network’s financial recovery and in guiding the transformative work being done across the network, officials said.
Prior to joining Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Eappen served as chief medical officer of Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and his MBA from the Yale University School of Management.