President & CEO , Vandalia Health
David L . Ramsey
President & CEO , Vandalia Health
SAMANTHA CART
The greatest influence on David Ramsey ’ s professional success is simply this : he enjoys what he does .
Ramsey ’ s career in health care administration has taken him across the country , and after moving to West Virginia in 2000 to serve as president and CEO of Charleston Area Medical Center ( CAMC ), he believed he would be in the state for five years tops before moving on , as he had before .
“ Twenty-four years later , I am still here because I have been blessed to find a job and organization I cherish ,” he says . “ I get to work with outstanding individuals every day and have made wonderful lifelong friends . Why would I leave ?”
After helping navigate the merger between CAMC and Mon Health System in 2022 , Ramsey now serves as president and CEO of Vandalia Health , which has grown to 17 hospitals and 190 outpatient locations in West Virginia , Virginia , Pennsylvania , Maryland and Ohio .
His journey began at the University of Missouri-St . Louis , where he received a bachelor ’ s degree in biology . He planned to pursue a Ph . D . in cellular biology afterward but quickly learned lab work was not for him . A chance encounter with a friend of a friend introduced him to hospital administration as a course of study , and he
Photo by Vandalia Health .
applied and was accepted at Washington University School of Medicine .
Ramsey completed an administrative residency at Houston Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center before taking his first position as a hospital chief operating officer at Montgomery County Medical Center in Conroe , Texas . He was recruited to a larger hospital in Baton Rouge , LA , and also served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Services . He later took on an administrative role for a health system in Memphis , TN , where he was eventually made president of their five hospitals in the Memphis region .
Today , Ramsey leads Vandalia Health in the significant challenge of providing health care in the rural communities of the Mountain State .
“ Our goal is to provide health care services as close to home for West Virginians as possible ,” he says . “ Many of our patients are challenged to find a ride to the doctor or hospital . They may not have a car , gas money or a dependable ride , which makes it very difficult for them to access care . We are focused on bringing that care closer to home for our patients .”
Along with limited access , Ramsey works to help alleviate other issues in health care , such as cost coverage for patients and physician and nursing
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