MHA Administrative Grand Rounds: Meet the Panelists
The WVU School of Public Health's Master of Health Administration program and WVU Graduate Chapter of Upsilon Phi Delta will host a virtual Administrative Grand Rounds on Friday, January 13, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET.
Moderated by Sarah Woodrum, DrPH, senior associate dean for administration and assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Leadership, this expert panel discussion on women in the healthcare C-suite will feature Karen Bowling and Gail Marsh.
Learn more about the participants below and register for the virtual event here.
Karen Bowling | President and CEO, Princeton Community Hospital
Karen Bowling serves as president and CEO of Princeton Community Hospital. Prior to being named to this position in 2021, Ms. Bowling served as executive vice president of government affairs for the West Virginia University Health System and president and CEO of WVU Medicine’s Braxton County Memorial Hospital and Summersville Regional Medical Center.
Prior to joining WVU Medicine in 2017, Bowling served as cabinet secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and shepherded an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Before that, she held a variety of direct care and leadership positions in healthcare and education.
Her career started as an emergency room nurse in a small rural hospital in Wyoming County and then led her to the Wyoming County Board of Education to develop its School Health Program. In 1990, she became the CEO of Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley.
Bowling has served in various leadership roles, including as chair, of the West Virginia Hospital Association. She was also a board member of several organizations, including the Raleigh County Community Action Association, the YMCA of Beckley, and the Beckley Health Right Clinic and served as chair of the Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce.
Gail Marsh | Senior Strategy and Leadership Advisor
Ms. Marsh serves as a senior advisor to corporate, higher education, and healthcare boards, presidents, and leadership teams in the area of strategy. Her expertise enables organizations to set strategic goals and actionable plans that improve operational and financial results and align the vision and culture across an enterprise. She counsels organizations on how to avoid plan derailers and ensure execution of strategic initiatives using an analytics platform. Her additional support as a leadership coach compliments the strategic work of CEOs and leadership teams advancing their organization’s strategy.
Ms. Marsh is the former senior vice president and chief strategy officer for The Ohio State University. In this role she led major strategic initiatives, strategy development, and a comprehensive Strategy Management Office for one of the largest, nationally recognized, public research universities. She established and implemented strategic, financial, and facility plans. She developed Board of Trustee performance scorecards for all major areas of the university, colleges, and the healthcare enterprise to advance university objectives. In 2020 she led the university’s emergency COVID Response Team and developed plans for a safe and healthy return to campus.
Sarah Woodrum, DrPH (Moderator)
Sarah Woodrum, DrPH, serves as the senior associate dean for administration at the West Virginia University School of Public Health in Morgantown, WV, where she oversees the day-to-day and strategic administration and operations. She leads projects and programs in direct consultation with the dean, participates in policy development and problem resolution, and provides administrative oversight and direction to the finance office, office of research and information technology staff. Dr. Woodrum also teaches leadership courses in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Leadership.
She has more than two decades of healthcare management and strategic operations experience. Previously, Woodrum served as chief operating officer of Mon Health Medical Center in Morgantown, WV; chief administrative officer and senior associate dean for administration and finance at the WVU School of Medicine; and vice president of the medical group with NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Ill.
Woodrum is a West Virginia native whose previous roles include chief operating officer at Mon Health Medical Center, a 189-bed community hospital in Morgantown, from 2015-2017; vice president at NorthShore University HealthSystem Medical Group in Evanston, Illinois, where she was responsible for the Department of Surgery, Department of Anesthesia and the Division of Cardiology; and various administrative capacities within the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation (Chicago), Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago) and the BJC Health System(St. Louis).
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