The UNC Health Care System has transferred $20 million to the main UNC system to help ease the universities' pain from state budget cuts.

UNC Health CEO Bill Roper announced the transfer at a joint meeting of the UNC Health and Rex Healthcare boards today in Raleigh.

Auditors are still tallying final results for the fiscal year that ended June 30, but UNC Health had a good year with its operations and investments, said spokeswoman Karen McCall. The health system expects to report an operating margin of 5 percent to 6 percent, better than the year before.

UNC President Tom Ross and UNC Chapel Hill chancellor Holden Thorp had requested the money as they reviewed the cuts the system was facing, McCall said. Last week, Ross announced that the UNC system would allocate $414 million in cuts across its system, with UNC Chapel Hill taking an 18 percent hit and N.C. State taking a 15 percent reduction.

"This is a good example of how our system is trying very hard in these tough times to stay together," McCall said. "This is an opportunity to help in an extraordinary time."

The state budget deficit is causing lawmakers and the governor to look at some pretty painful possibilities in terms of cuts. Here's a letter from a woman who resides at the Wilmington Residential Facility for Women, which was mentioned in a Feb. 3 article detailing programs that might have to go.