President & CEO, Mon Health System;
Executive Vice President, Vandalia Health
Photo by Jenna Rabideau.
By Kristen Uppercue
David Goldberg, president and CEO of Mon Health System and executive vice president of Vandalia Health, has been enamored with the health care field ever since he was a patient at one of Shriners Hospitals for Children when he was younger.
“I feel health care is a calling, not a career,” Goldberg says. “We are in health care to take care of our patients and communities. We serve with heart, compassion and empathy. We are only able to be effective in delivering care if we stay focused on patient need, not self-need.”
Since then, he was able to become involved in the field as a development consultant in the early 2000s and was included in operations health care leadership environments, which he says grew his insights and access to learn, grow and evolve. He received his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University (WVU) in 1994 and his master’s in health system management from George Mason University in 2005.
Goldberg notes that throughout his career he had organizations and leaders offer opportunities outside of his comfort zone to learn.
“I believe being that early utility player and adult learner has allowed me to grow in experience and insight,” he says.
In his current position of president and CEO of Mon Health System, Goldberg’s main role is to guide the strategy,
level of investment and path for the organization to provide the best care possible to the communities it serves. As executive vice president of the new Vandalia Health, Goldberg is helping to build the newly formed health system.
“I have learned that buildings do not treat patients—people treat patients. My number one priority is to provide a safe, positive and well-capitalized environment for our clinicians and colleagues to deliver the best care each and every time to our patients,” Goldberg says. “We are public servants with a significant responsibility for caring for our friends, families and neighbors each and every day. Our people are the very best aspect of what we do and without their engagement, we cannot deliver the care Mon Health—and now Vandalia Health —is known for. I am humbled by the dedication and heart our Mon and Vandalia family has day in and day out.”
Alongside the integration of Vandalia Health, Goldberg is working on the development of a small format hospital in Harrison County, a newly expanding medical oncology program that will be offered at Mon Health Preston Memorial Hospital in 2023, and the appeal of the recent Certificate of Need decision to rebuild and replace Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital to name a few highlighted programs underway to improve access and health outcomes.
Goldberg serves on many boards across the state. He also focuses on lecturing and mentoring others and is adjunct faculty at WVU’s School of Public Health and lectures at Fairmont State University.
“We must teach and be coaches to our colleagues, but also be open to hearing from others,” Goldberg says. “Learning is a two-way, not a one-way, street. We need to also have mentors, coaches and colleagues to stay fresh and forward-thinking to stay connected and up to speed on all that is happening and ahead of us in any industry we work.”
Goldberg launched a giving group named 100+ People Who Care, composed of more than 100 people, that has raised $80,000 since 2019 to support local charities through fellowship and direct stewardship in North Central West Virginia.
He received the Distinguished Alumni Award at George Mason University College of Health and Human Services in 2008 and 2017, and the inaugural Francis Pierpont Visionary Award from the Marion County Chamber of Commerce in 2021. His most special recognition was receiving the American Diabetes Association’s Father of the Year Award—as his two daughters, Reagan and Ryan, are his most important legacy.
As a WVU graduate, Goldberg is happy to serve West Virginia, a state he fell in love with during college and returned to in 2018.
“I love my West Virginia. I met my wife of nearly 25 years here and am so honored to serve my adopted home,” he says. “I have worked in many states, and I believe we offer the best health care here in West Virginia. Our community should be proud of what we have and what we have to offer.”
Vandalia Health Merger
Two of the state’s largest health systems—Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) and Mon Health System (MHS)—have officially merged to create a single health care system: Vandalia Health.
Vandalia Health will aim to strengthen and expand the scope and scale of care available for patients and families while managing health care costs and advancing a seamless continuum of care that improves access for the communities each organization serves.
Vandalia Health will consist of nine hospitals, with the new Greenbrier Valley Medical Center joining the organization in early 2023, with more than 12,000 employees, making the system the second largest non-governmental employer in the state.
CAMC and Mon Health System announced a letter of intent to complete the merger in April 2022, centered around combining two centuries of health care expertise and resources throughout the state. Names of the affiliated facilities will not change. Both CAMC and Mon Health System are maintaining their branding under the merger, and patients will not see a difference in their providers, how they schedule appointments or how they receive and pay bills.
David Ramsey, CEO and president of CAMC, is president and CEO of Vandalia Health, and David Goldberg, president and CEO of Mon Health System, will serve as Vandalia Health executive vice president. The combined health system has a 15-member board consisting of five people from Mon Health System and 10 from CAMC.
“Together, we will reduce variability in care and cost of care and improve access across the 190 plus sites we offer across the state. Most importantly, we will be the voice in guiding strategy and policy to improve the health and well-being of our patients and communities we serve—every patient, every time,” Goldberg says.
