Thanking John Ward
My faculty physician colleagues at VCU Health are among the most compassionate providers of care in the world. Their world-class talent has benefited our region, the Commonwealth, and many people with unique needs throughout the world.
Among the very best is John Ward.
He is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. He is a nationally renowned expert in spine surgery, epilepsy, and pediatric neurosurgery. He has published nearly 300 scholarly articles. He is a VCU alumnus, earning his master’s degree in health administration here, and completing his residency and fellowship here. More importantly, John is well known to patients and parents as deeply dedicated to the best care with the best health outcomes.
And for the last eight years, I have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ward as president of MCV Physicians, the practice plan of VCU Health.
John vacates that role today, having overseen unprecedented growth of talented faculty within in our health system. I will always appreciate his wise counsel, wisdom, and great partnership which led that growth. With John’s leadership, our clinical faculty grew in size, renown, and diversity. Our practice and medical school curriculum became more integrated and inter-professional. We achieved national prominence for safety and quality and earned distinction as the No. 1-rated hospital in Virginia while ramping up our efforts to serve as the region’s safety net. John’s commitment was that we would always provide patients of all needs with life-enhancing and life-saving care. VCU Health, including our medical center, is a remarkable place, and John Ward is one important reason why.
As VCU Health has laid the strategic foundation for the future through Vision By Design, John has been instrumental in ensuring that our health system remains a top destination for clinicians across the globe for many years to come.
I am grateful that he will remain a critical member of our clinical faculty in neurosurgery, continuing to exemplify VCU’s commitment to the provide extraordinary care for the patients we serve.
I am very excited about working with MCVP’s new president, Tom Yackel, a world-class physician leader. Like John, Tom will accelerate VCU’s rise to national prominence and will, more importantly, lead us in saving countless lives in Richmond and beyond.
He will continue John Ward’s legacy.
For almost two centuries, our physicians and other care providers have made Richmond a better, healthier place. I am grateful to all of my colleagues at VCU for their great work in fulfilling a critical mission—one that positively impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every year.
Categories 21st-Century University, Community, Health, News, To VCU