College of Medicine’s senior associate dean is helping PSU forge a strong relationship with medical center
As senior associate dean of the University Park Regional Campus of Penn State College of Medicine, associate director of Penn State Hershey Medical Group in State College, and professor in neurology, Dr. E. Eugene Marsh III is tasked to help develop and oversee medical-education opportunities at University Park, including clinical clerkships for Penn State medical students and residency training in family medicine in collaboration with Mount Nittany Medical Center.
Marsh also oversees the development of Penn State Hershey Medical Group practices in State College at Park Avenue, Windmere Centre, Benner Pike, and Colonnade. These practices offer both primary care and an expanding array of specialty-care services in the Centre County region.
In addition, as a board-certified neurologist, his clinical interests include stroke and stroke prevention, along with general neurology, especially neurological conditions affecting the elderly. Dr. Marsh sees patients part-time.
Originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina, he earned his doctor of medicine degree at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile. After an internship in family medicine at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, he completed his residency in neurology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, and served as a teaching fellow at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda. He also completed a two-year fellowship in cerebrovascular diseases (stroke) at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.
Town&Gown founder Mimi Barash Coppersmith sat down with Marsh to discuss progressing the development of the new regional medical campus and the ongoing collaboration between Mount Nittany Medical Center and the University Park Regional Campus to provide a higher level of health care in our region.
Mimi: Dr. Marsh, I just can’t help but reflect on the fact that it’s about your one-year anniversary here and you and I are part of a painful healing period in this valley. Any words of wisdom or advice as a newcomer from another college community?
Eugene: Well, that’s a very important and difficult question, but from my experience, college towns and college cities tend to be resilient and able to adjust and respond to challenges that arise. I lived in Tuscaloosa for 20 years before I moved here and I was also there for college. Alabama is recovering from a major tornado that occurred in March. Lots of people are coming together to build Tuscaloosa back to be a better place than it was before. I think this was a good lesson about dealing with unexpected trauma. What seems to set successful organizations and communities apart is how they handle challenges. Penn State is certainly facing the current challenge head on and is working very hard to make the university even stronger going forward.
Mimi: It really is an opportunity to examine what exists and make it better.
Eugene: And that applies across the board to so many areas. My wife and I were both impressed with this community and the people we visited as part of the interview process. My wife had never visited this part of the country, and I had only been here once on a very short visit.
Mimi: And you both have southern accents.
Eugene: Oh yes, and that has stayed with us for the last year. When making the decision to relocate to this area, we were interested in the community and the kind of people here, as well as the university’s commitment to fulfill its goal of establishing a regional medical campus in State College. We evaluated my wife’s career opportunities, as well as State College being a place to raise our children, Emily and Will. We definitely made the right decision.
Mimi: I couldn’t agree with you more. It was my observation that Penn State Hershey and Mount Nittany Medical Center were not on the same page a year ago. It’s clear that with your new leadership on this campus and [Mount Nittany Medical Center president and CEO] Steve Brown’s arrival there has been a gradual improvement in that relationship. What do you see as the keys in that early progress and what can we expect going forward?
Eugene: On a personal level, I put a great deal of value in relationships built on mutual trust. I find Steve Brown to be a very trustworthy and dedicated person with whom I share many similar opinions and goals. Most importantly, we are both committed to the health and welfare of the people in this area as our primary focus.
Mimi: It shows an improved environment for collaboration and commitment to working together. That’s encouraging. What is your vision with regards to accelerated and/or continued outpatient services in our community? Can you give us some indication of where that will be going?
Eugene: We have five locations, and I have to credit Craig Hillemeier, MD, vice dean for clinical affairs, Penn State College of Medicine, and Steve Speece, administrative director, Penn State Hershey Medical Group in State College, for their work in the early build-out of our clinical operations. We are developing a workforce of providers to help meet the needs of our community, particularly for Penn State faculty, staff, dependents, and retirees.
Mimi: Health-care delivery for Penn State employees.
Eugene: That’s right. It is an area of focus for our regional campus. At the same time, we are making contributions to meet the needs of the community at large.
Mimi: What are some of those in your mind?
Eugene: The most urgent need is a top-notch hospitalist program at Mount Nittany. We have put a lot of time and energy into the program, and we are starting to see positive results.
Mimi: For the benefit of our readers, give us a brief description of the hospitalist program.
Eugene: It is a relatively new concept, but it is certainly not unique. A hospitalist program was developed during my time in Tuscaloosa. The idea is to take well-trained physicians who enjoy working in the hospital setting and allowing them to do that full-time.
Mimi: And it is around the clock?
Eugene: Absolutely.
Mimi: Isn’t that the biggest difference?
Eugene: This program allows our hospitalists to concentrate on patients in the hospital and allows other physicians to focus more time and energy on outpatient care. When fully developed, this program will be very beneficial to Mount Nittany Medical Center and the community, allowing for more efficient, shorter hospital stays. This program, along with Mount Nittany Medical Center’s plan for an “intensivist” program, will allow for people with more complicated conditions to receive care closer to home.
Mimi: It makes them feel better.
Eugene: It makes them feel better and it gives people a sense of comfort to know that the same level of care is available here rather than having to worry about traveling two hours or so to receive it. The goal is to provide the highest quality of care possible to meet the needs of our community.
Mimi: Rethinking the way you do things is good for the soul.
Eugene: Well, it is. It’s also true that higher cost doesn’t necessarily correlate with higher quality. In many situations, you get better care by avoiding unnecessary procedures, which in turn saves money. Another cost-effective and quality-added approach involves an increased focus on interprofessional collaboration, allowing us to utilize providers, such as nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and dieticians, at their highest level of training and licensing.
Mimi: Working together is important. Let me ask you about the medical campus. That’s a pretty exciting term to me. The whole concept of clerkships, fellowships, dual degrees, and growing Medical Group services will also contribute to Penn State College of Medicine and the university itself. A medical campus in State College is going to be a significant extension of what happens here.
Eugene: You’re right. By next July, we expect to have our first cohort of 12 students who will spend their entire third and part of their fourth year here. This will immerse them in the community in hopes they’ll not only learn about health care from a community perspective, but some of them may stay for residency or come back after they complete their training. I saw that work very well in Tuscaloosa. In October, we received confirmation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) that we’re ready to move forward with this part of our regional campus mission.
Mimi: Isn’t that exciting!
Eugene: It is. Accreditation was an important step. The family-medicine residency program is the next step. We’ve had conversations with Mount Nittany Health System’s board of trustees about their critical role in the program. If we secure their commitment, then we expect to have a residency program running in about three and half years. We will essentially be helping to train the future workforce for this region. The other part of our mission is rural health. State College is in the middle of a huge rural area that is underserved when it comes to health care. There are problems with access, delivery of care, and mortality rates. Part of our job as we grow is to provide more outreach to improve care to people in rural Central Pennsylvania communities.
Mimi: What’s our biggest challenge going forward in the relationship between the community and Penn State Hershey Medical Center?
Eugene: There are a lot of things that have happened over the years that set the stage for some negative opinions and positions. I think we have to work together and focus on where we want this community to be in five or 10 years. How can we best serve the people of this community? What can we do to make health care available, affordable, and to the level it needs to be in this community?
Mimi: Good advice about looking forward not backward. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. I like that. I wish you continuing good success and solutions to problems with your forward vision and your capacity to collaborate in a community where most of us feel we’re experts.
Eugene: Well, thank you! It has really been a joy and I hope to have more conversations in the future — formally or informally.
Mimi: Thank you so much.
