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Dr. Art Kellermann, CEO of Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, resigned late Thursday under pressure from university leadership. In an emergency meeting, the university’s board of visitors and the health system’s board of directors voted unanimously to accept Kellermann’s resignation and to name Dr. Marlon Levy as interim CEO.
Kellermann resigned because he was asked to, he said in an interview. On Monday, he met with VCU president Michael Rao, who told Kellermann his services were no longer required. For the past two years, Kellermann oversaw a government-affiliated health system that employs roughly 13,000 people across 70 locations in central Virginia.
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Ben Dendy, head of the board of visitors, declined to say why Kellermann was asked to resign. In a statement, Rao thanked Kellermann for his work, leading VCU during a pandemic that strained staff, led nurses to leave and caused a financial crunch on the health system.
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“His tenure was marked by COVID challenges, and I appreciate how he, our leadership team and every member of our team helped us manage such difficult times,” Rao said.
Kellermann added that he’s proud of the work of VCU Health employees during such challenging times.
“It was a team effort from the moment I got there until the moment I departed,” Kellermann said. “It will be a team effort going forward, I just won’t be leading it.”
Levy was previously chief medical officer for the VCU Medical Center, chair of the division of transplant surgery and head of the Hume-Lee transplant center. On Thursday, the board approved a $50,000 increase to his salary.
He joined VCU in 2015 from Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was surgical director of transplantation. Rao said Levy excels at bringing people together for a common cause.
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On Tuesday, he wrote to staffers, thanking Rao for his confidence, calling it a privilege to be offered the position.
“We will continue to single-mindedly deliver on and advance our mission by putting patients and students first, as we’ve always done,” Levy said.
Kellermann, an emergency medicine physician, joined VCU in 2020 from the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland, where he served as dean.
Numerous executives at the health system have left in the past two years, including Dr. Peter Buckley, who was dean of the School of Medicine. He resigned in 2021 and was interim CEO before Kellermann was hired. Kellermann replaced Dr. Marsha Rappley, who led the health system for four years. VCU also lost chief information officer Susan Steagall last year.
VCU Health lost $56 million last year, as hospitals struggle with increased costs
Since Kellermann was hired, the health system added a new chief operating officer, Michael Elliott; a new chief financial officer, James Siegel and a president of VCU Medical Center, Michael Roussos.
Kellermann said VCU is in the midst of a turnaround, and turnarounds are never without some drama. He said the health care landscape has changed dramatically in the past year, as competition from Bon Secours and HCA Healthcare has increased, labor costs have soared and insurers have made late payments.
Leslie Luck, shown in a drone photo taken Tuesday, is director of operations for the Historic Polegreen Church Foundation. “Historic Polegreen Church is known as the cradle of religious freedom,” Luck said of the Hanover County site. Samuel Davies, who inspired a young Patrick Henry, was Virginia’s first licensed non-Anglican minister there from 1748 to 1759. The original church structure was burned down during the Civil War, and the current white steel beam structure, designed by Carlton Abbott, was erected at the site. Other than the historical importance and symbolism for religious freedom, Historic Polegreen Church is a popular wedding venue and was made even more popular since guitarist Jason Mraz, a Mechanicsville native, was married here in 2015.
Visitors took in the views of the valley, about 1,000 feet below, and the mountains beyond at a scenic spot on Rockfish Gap Turnpike near Afton on July 31.
This drone photo was taken from the scenic overlook on Interstate 64.
Flying the drone is not allowed at nearby Shenandoah National Park; however, there are scenic overlooks, including McCormick Gap, Calf Mountain and Sawmill Run.
Visitors can also find three historical markers at the I-64 overlook: the Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District, the Flight of Richard C. duPont and the Rockfish Gap Meeting.
There are many beautiful spots in the Hampton Roads area for photographers, such as beaches, rivers and state and national parks. But there are not many places available for drone photography because of the many restricted airspaces due to military bases, airports, and state and national parks.
Gloucester Point in Gloucester County is one of the exceptions, with a popular public fishing pier, a small beach and views of the Coleman Memorial Bridge and Yorktown. With the right timing and cooperation from Mother Nature, visitors are rewarded with a beautiful sunset over the bridge and a view of Yorktown’s waterfront.
The Times-Dispatch covered Alvis Farms a few years ago when the Goochland County farm started the Sunflower Festival.
The imagery stayed with me, and I thought it would be a cool place to fly a drone and capture images of a 50-acre sunflower field. I learned that timing is crucial, as the flowers fully bloom for only a few weeks in the middle of summer.
I coordinated with Rachel Henley of Alvis Farms to find the best time to photograph them. Once I visited the field with a drone, showing perspective of the sunflower farm became the challenge, as again it is 50 acres brimming with sunflowers.
Hannah Molnar of Alvis Farms had a cow, Memphis, at the field as she and others were preparing for the opening of the festival.
I was able to capture Hannah and Memphis with the flowers in full bloom, with the drone showing the scale of the farm.
Last week, I spent some time on a farm with Lynwood Broaddus, his son, Bates, and his brother, John.
The Broaddus family has lived on this farm all their lives.
Bates remembers getting off the school bus when he was younger and immediately setting aside all his school work as he ran toward his father to prepare for the life he has now: as a farmer.
When it came time for Bates to get married, he didn’t have to go very far. He was married on the same land as his grandparents, and for the after-party, they built a barn.
It stands to this day. Bates said his wife jokes that the barn was built just for her.
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