University of Alabama Health Services Foundation

The UAHSF board serves as the de facto investment committee, drawing on members with significant finance and legal expertise. Board member C.T. Fitzpatrick runs Vulcan Value Partners as its chairman and CIO, while James Outland is a founding partner of Birmingham-based private-equity firm New Capital Partners. Day-to-day investing is not managed by a large internal staff; the board sets asset-allocation policy and selects external managers.

The foundation maintains three capital pools with distinct liquidity profiles: the HSF General Endowment Fund, a Professional Liability Trust Fund for malpractice claims, and a directly owned real-estate portfolio. Malpractice-trust reserves must remain reasonably liquid to cover claims, while the commercial-property holdings — including the Kirklin Clinic and the Whitaker Clinic — are inherently illiquid. This bifurcation shapes the aggregate portfolio more than a typical endowment spending rule.

The foundation is the faculty practice plan for the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. It collects clinical revenue from physician services delivered through UAB Hospital, the Kirklin Clinic, and a network of community clinics across Alabama. After covering practice-plan expenses, the surplus flows into the endowment and the liability trust.

The general endowment allocates to buyout and distressed-debt strategies, according to publicly reported strategy tags. Board member James Outland's private-equity background suggests continued comfort with alternatives. UAHSF also holds direct stakes in entities such as Triton Health Systems, though the foundation does not operate a formal venture-capital program.

UAHSF directly owns multiple clinical and commercial properties in Birmingham, including the Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital, the Whitaker Clinic, the Daniel Building at 15 20th Street South, the John N. Whitaker Building, and a medical office building on 11th Avenue South. It also holds a rental-property portfolio that extends to Cullman, Alabama.

UAHSF and UAB form a joint-venture entity called the UAB Medicine Enterprise that oversees the integrated health system. Dawn Bulgarella serves as CEO of both the foundation and the health system, while Dr. Cheri Canon is the foundation's president and the health system's chief physician executive. The arrangement blurs the line between a standalone endowment and a health-system treasury function.

UAHSF maintains a general endowment that supports physician-related obligations rather than traditional grantmaking. Separate philanthropic structures exist within the UAB ecosystem — specifically the UAB Benevolent Fund and the UAB Health System Foundation — but those are distinct from UAHSF's investment function.