Sammar Atassi, M. D., FACP, FAASM
Medical Director, Montgomery Rehab Nursing & Montgomery Extended Care Unit, and Staff Physician, Montgomery General Hospital
Written by Jordan Charbonneau
Sammar Atassi, M. D., FACP, FAASM, has dedicated his career to eliminating barriers in rural health care. He serves as medical director for the Montgomery Rehab Nursing and Montgomery Extended Care Unit as well as staff physician at Montgomery General Hospital.
Atassi studied medicine at Damascus University in Syria before completing his residency in internal medicine at the University of Illinois’ Mercy Hospital. From there, his medical career brought him to the hills of Appalachia. In the early 1990s, he moved to practice emergency medicine in Oak Hill, WV, and Williamson, KY.
“ The biggest challenge in my career was transitioning from working in a large university hospital to a rural setting with very limited resources and being the only physician available,” he says.“ I recall being the only physician in the Appalachian Regional Healthcare emergency department in Williamson, KY, dealing with a fatal crush injury of a coal miner. Helicopters and ambulances could not make it into town to evacuate him. I learned to be independent and resourceful, just like all the staff in the hospital.”
Working in West Virginia, Atassi met Dr. Enrique Aguilar, an older physician who had come to the state from Mexico to work as a coal camp doctor. Atassi speaks highly of his work ethic and ingenuity.
“ He worked as a surgeon and family physician with limited resources for 50 years, delivered babies, mended broken bones and treated children and adults for acute and chronic illnesses,” Atassi says.“ He was a true rural physician.”
When Aguilar passed his practice on to Atassi in 1995, Atassi knew he wanted to carry on Aguilar’ s legacy of improving rural health care. While maintaining his family practice, Atassi
Photo by Seth Stover.
served as chief of staff at Montgomery General Hospital from 2010-2025. The independence and resourcefulness he learned early in his career helped him cope with supply shortages and staff and patient fears during the COVID- 19 pandemic.
“ I learned that in health care, like in life, change is inevitable,” he says.“ Anticipating change and being prepared for it is the key to success.”
Atassi’ s career has also had plenty of detours. In 2011, he became the medical director of the sleep lab at WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals and, in 2016,
66 WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE