When I became your interim president, I promised that I would always be upfront and honest with you, even if the news is not as good as we would like.

In developing our FY2021 budget, we were faced with a $174 million gap, due in large part to the ongoing financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of our multiple and collective best efforts to preserve jobs for all UTMB employees, we will be unable to do so heading into the new fiscal year.

My executive leadership team and I have reviewed programs, projects and employee positions across the university that we believe UTMB can no longer sustain. We anticipate approximately 200 positions, or 1.5% of our workforce, will ultimately be eliminated as we close the budget gap. Concurrently, some departmental reorganizations also will be implemented over the next several weeks. These actions are in addition to planned measures to increase revenue and manage expenses.

Individuals whose positions are affected by the reduction will be supported with appropriate notice and outplacement services. These individuals will be given priority for current open positions that we must continue to fill to preserve UTMB’s mission.

Our world was a very different place when I took the job as your President ad interim last September. No one could have predicted then the devastating effects of this pandemic and the difficult decisions that would follow.

I will write again when I have more to share, but I did not want to delay in letting you know about our situation. I am proud to serve with such a dedicated team of people. I know we will continue to do all we can to support each other through these trying times.

Thank you,

Ben G. Raimer, MD, MA, FAAP
President ad interim