John E. Prescott, M.D., has been named dean of the West Virginia University School of Medicine.
Prescott currently is the school’s senior associate dean and president of University Health Associates, the clinical practice organization for faculty physicians and dentists.
He succeeds Robert M. D’Alessandri, M.D., who will remain vice president for health sciences at WVU as well as president of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute.
Prescott’s appointment is effective July 1.
Dr. Prescott’s selection is the result of an intensive national search,Dr. D’Alessandri said.
A search committee consisting of leading faculty physicians and researchers, students, staff, alumni, hospital leadership, and leaders of other health sciences schools initially narrowed down a large and varied field of applicants to six. These six were invited to campus for three-days of interviews, including meetings with WVU administrators, and dozens of faculty, administrators, staff and students at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center .
A number of excellent candidates were interviewed, but John’s proven leadership, knowledge, stature within the institution, and personal integrity brought him to the forefront,D’Alessandri said.
John is someone who’s deeply devoted to the school’s missions. He’s a great teacher who really understands medical education, he’s committed to research, and he has an exceptional grasp not only of the clinical aspects of healthcare but also of its complex and vitally important role in societyand in particular, in our state.
The School of Medicine encompasses the M.D. program, Ph.D. programs in a variety of sciences, along with programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, exercise physiology and medical technology. In addition to Morgantown , the school has divisions in Charleston and Martinsburg.
Prescott was formerly chair of the school’s department of emergency medicine and director of the Center for Rural Emergency Medicine. In 1999 he became University Health Associates president and CEO , the first physician to hold that position.
John Prescott has shown that he has a vision for the school and its crucial mission for the state. He has a strong and long-standing commitment to our research initiatives. He has been outstanding in every leadership role we’ve asked him to take on,D’Alessandri said.We’re fortunate that he is willing to accept this new challenge.
Prescott said the School of Medicine is thriving on many fronts, thanks in large part of the support of state and local officials, especially U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, who has secured extensive federal funding to support the school’s programs, centers and new initiatives.
We have outstanding faculty, including physicians of international renown. We have an ambitious research agenda, and I want to see major growth in it over the coming years. We play a vital role in the total healthcare environment of West Virginia,he said.
This is an institution that is working very well, and my goal will be to keep it moving strongly forward.
Though the state’s budget problems present ongoing challenges to the medical school, Prescott said that people are increasingly recognizing that the school is a tremendous force for economic growth and social progress.
Prescott said that one of the school’s strengths is its partnership with West Virginia University Hospitals.The School of Medicine and the hospital have an extremely positive, mutually beneficial and respectful relationship that is the envy of other academic medical centers around the country,Prescott said.
Bruce McClymonds, president of WVUH , said,The hospital has had a long and very successful working relationship with Dr. Prescott, beginning with his direction of the Emergency Department and continuing through his leadership of University Health Associates.
We in the hospital share his commitment to excellent educational and research programs, and to serving the needs of West Virginians . The hospital is in a phase of considerable growth and change right now, and I’m looking forward to working closely with John as we all move toward a new era here at the Health Sciences Center.
Prescott earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Georgetown University , and trained in emergency medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center , San Antonio . He has served as medical director of West Virginia’s Office of Emergency Medical Services.
His wife, Charlotte Dillis, M.D., is a radiologist at WVU , and the couple have three children, Katie, Amy and Allison.