MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A mountaineer returns home to make WVU a national and international example in health care initiatives.
That is the bottom line according to Dr. Gordon Gee, WVU’s president regarding the hiring of the next vice president and executive dean for Health Sciences.
Clay Marsh, M.D., a national leader in health care at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, will begin his position at WVU Feb. 15.
“Clay, first of all is a son of West Virginia. Although that is not the compelling reason, it is great to have someone who really understands the values and direction of the state,” said Gee.
Marsh is a WVU medical school graduate who trained under former Health Sciences leader Robert M. D’Alessandri, M.D. He received his biology degree from WVU in 1981 and earned his medical degree in 1985.
“The opportunity became very exciting and the pull to come back became very strong. And, here I am. I feel this is a terrific opportunity to pay back and pay forward,” Marsh said.
According to the university, Marsh will oversee five schools – dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health – and numerous allied health programs and clinical operations around the state.
“He is one of the leading proponents in this country of what is called personalized medicine which is really the development of a health care system in which people are about healthy lives and not about curing disease,” explained Gee.
Marsh’s professional experience includes time spent as a clinician, academician, researcher, innovator, department chair and senior administrator.
“We really want to try to transition our health care approach from one that really focuses on rescuing people from disease to one that focuses on preventing disease in people,” said Marsh.
Marsh’s higher education experience includes beginning as a clinical instructor at Ohio State and working his way to full professor, investigators and on to senior level positions.
His focus now will be on quick movement for health care improvement at his alma mater.
“I feel there is a great opportunity to help the state’s citizens, to help the university. The university really invested heavily in me and so did the state through being accepted to medical school,” explained Marsh.
“We believe WV is one of the best places in the country, maybe in the world, to be able to test some of these principals to move faster to do more to provide a beacon for others to follow.”
Marsh is the son of late Charleston Gazette editor and former MetroNews Talkline co-host Don Marsh. His mother, Jerry Marsh, still lives in Charleston.