Sept. 22, 2025 — For the first time, University of Florida College of Medicine leaders from both the Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses came together in person to discuss the future of the college last month.

The College of Medicine strategic retreat took place a few months after leaders initiated a tactical strategic planning process to identify objectives in the college’s mission areas of education, patient care and research for the next 12-18 months.

During the daylong retreat, department chairs, senior associate deans, administrative leaders and UF Health system leaders organized around targeted breakout topics to discuss goals for Gainesville and Jacksonville, ranging from expanding graduate programs and enhancing patient flow efficiencies to standardizing operational processes for shared research resources.

“Coming together with this group in person for the first time is a chance to talk openly about where we’re headed and how we can get there together,” said Michael Holmes, M.S.A., UF Health senior vice president and Greater Gainesville regional president. “What excites me most is the collaboration across our different teams and campuses — finding common ground, building on each other’s strengths and uniting around who we are and what we want to achieve.”

Over the next few weeks, retreat attendees will continue to build upon their discussions and develop actionable plans for their areas.

“It is exciting to see the growth we’re part of at this time,” said Andy Godwin, M.D., president of UF Jacksonville Physicians Inc., a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and senior associate dean for clinical affairs in Jacksonville. “We’ve always had this huge research presence and educational impact, but now we’re really able to touch multiple communities and areas within the state to providing our UF-quality of service at a lot of different levels.”

After attendees had a chance to connect with one another through their breakout sessions, they also heard from Ann Searight Christiano, director of the UF Center for Public Interest Communications, about the importance of strategic communications in making meaningful change.

To wrap up the event, interim Dean Jennifer Hunt, M.D., M.Ed.; president and system CEO of UF Health’s clinical enterprise Steve Motew, M.D., M.H.A.; and UF interim Provost Joe Glover, Ph.D., held a discussion around recent successes and challenges with leading their areas, as well as the future of their units.

“I like that there’s a real impetus to move forward,” said Aaron Saguil, M.D., chair of the Department of Community Health and Family Medicine in Gainesville. “In uncertain times, staying still is not an option. We don’t know what all the different pieces of moving forward look like, but we have a direction, we have great leadership. I am confident we’re going to get to be where we need to be, both now and into the future.”