VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University announced today that the VCU Board of Visitors and VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors have appointed Marlon F. Levy, M.D., as senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences and chief executive officer of VCU Health System. The appointment is effective immediately. 

“Dr. Levy has the full confidence of both the VCU Board of Visitors and VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors to lead our health system and health sciences with the continued momentum he has already established,” said Todd P. Haymore, rector of the VCU Board of Visitors. “With his leadership and the unwavering commitment of all our people to our mission, VCU’s future is bright.”

Levy, who joined VCU in 2015, had been serving in the role in an interim capacity since November 2022. He developed a reputation in the VCU community for his strategic leadership, emotional intelligence and focus on the best outcomes for patients, students, faculty, staff and caregivers. 

“In his two years in this interim role, Dr. Levy has done an outstanding job, and I’m grateful that we will keep him here,” said Michael Rao, Ph.D., president of VCU and chairman of the VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors. “Dr. Levy has led VCU Health’s post-COVID financial turnaround, restoring VCU Health to a positive operating margin, maintaining strong bond ratings and setting our health system on a course for greater success and patient outcomes. In the two years of his service, he has worked to support our colleagues in research and teaching. Additionally, Dr. Levy puts the needs of patients, students, faculty and staff first. He is an experienced and trusted leader, whose empathy for people is evident in everything he does.”

Under Levy’s leadership, VCU Health System – which encompasses hospitals as well as clinical operations and services – stabilized from the challenges brought on by the pandemic and advanced its mission in many ways. Highlights include: 

• Financial recovery and continued strong financial performance, including upgraded bond ratings from Moody’s and S&P. 

• Care delivery to a record number of inpatients and outpatients as the result of improved access and health system growth. 

• Improved workforce wellness, measured by participation in employee engagement and safety surveys, and added investments for campus safety.  

• Launch of a new brand designed to capture the people, mission and spirit that differentiates VCU Health and its outcomes from other health care systems. 

Also during Levy’s tenure, VCU Health Sciences – which encompasses the university’s health-focused colleges and schools – has experienced strong growth in research funding, philanthropy and national prominence. Notably: 

• VCU School of Medicine again received full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accrediting body for all medical education programs.
• State approval of planning funding for a much-needed new dental school facility.  

• Strengthened leadership by hiring new deans for the School of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and College of Health Professions. 

“It is the collective effort and dedication of our team members, providers, faculty, staff and students that make VCU Health and VCU Health Sciences so special,” Levy said. “I am continuously inspired and amazed by the unparalleled skill and compassion of the entire team. It is truly a privilege to serve in this leadership role.”  

Prior to his interim role, Levy served as chief medical officer for VCU Medical Center, where he was a practicing abdominal multiorgan transplant surgeon. He was the David M. Hume endowed professor and chair of the Division of Transplant Surgery at VCU Health and director of the VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center. Under his leadership, VCU’s solid organ transplant teams achieved substantial growth and diversification – and lead the nation in minimally invasive/robotic surgery for live donor procurement as well as implantation.  

Levy received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He completed his general surgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin and his multiorgan transplant surgery fellowship at Baylor Scott & White. He is board-certified in general surgery – previously with added qualifications in surgical critical care – and is an elected member of the American Surgical Association.

Levy also earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Brandeis University.