MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The restructuring of Vandalia Health into two major divisions has left David Goldberg, now former Mon Health president and CEO, on the outside looking in.
Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said Goldberg has had a major impact on the Morgantown community. He said Goldberg is well-respected by the staff and community and provided leadership through the pandemic and expansion of care into rural areas.
“He represented our area amazingly, and this is going to be a great loss,” Bloom said. “Not only did he have the respect of his staff and workers, but he had the respect of state and local officials.”
Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, said he’s concerned about how Mon General Hospital and associated properties will be managed moving forward. He called Goldberg “omnipresent” in the community and echoed concerns about the future of the Mon Health Medical Center specifically.
MORE Vandalia Health restructuring
“I’m sure that the hospital will survive; however, it’s hard for me to imagine it growing and thriving at the same rate that it was before without David Goldberg,” Chiarelli said. “I guess we’ll have to see what happens.”
Before Goldberg came to Morgantown, there was no productive relationship with WVU Medicine, according to Bloom. Most notably, the two entities jointly funded Mon EMS in an agreement that improved services and brought some stability to the organization.
“He had a positive relationship with WVU Medicine President and CEO Albert Wright,” Bloom said. “It made both organizations stronger and now both organizations are seen in the national light.”
Goldberg is also the originator of the small-format hospital concept. The hospitals have an emergency department, about 10 inpatient beds, and provide a variety of outpatient care while being able to access higher levels of care within the system if needed. Goldberg is also remembered for leading Mon Health Systems through the pandemic as one of his first challenges after arriving.
His involvement with many nonprofits, including serving on the board of Hazel’s House of Hope, made a mark in the community, according to Bloom. During a distribution event in Morgantown, Bloom said he coined a phrase that is still used today.
“People may not know that he came to Pantry Plus More and saw what we were doing and coined a phrase that we use and now the state uses, which is ‘Food is medicine,’ and he believed this was the way to get people out of poverty and give them hope,” Bloom said.