LEWISBURG (WVDN) – In its inaugural Founders Day celebration, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) paid tribute to the individuals who, 50 years ago, decided to create an institution that would educate physicians to serve the medical needs of residents of West Virginia, Appalachia and beyond.
The Dec. 12 event took place on WVSOM’s Lewisburg campus and honored the four osteopathic physicians who founded the school in 1972 — Carlton Apgar, D.O., O.J. Bailes, D.O., Donald Newell Sr., D.O. and Frank Wallington, D.O. — as well as the school’s first president, Roland P. Sharp, D.O. It was the final event in a year filled with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the institution’s founding.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (accompanied by his ever-present companion, Babydog) was among those who spoke to an audience that included family members of all the founders along with state and local legislators and WVSOM employees. Other government officials in attendance included Del. Vernon Criss, finance chair of the West Virginia House of Representatives; State Sen. Vince Deeds of West Virginia’s 10th District; and Beverly White, mayor of Lewisburg.
In his remarks, Justice praised WVSOM for helping the state weather the COVID-19 pandemic and for its estimated $1.5 billion annual economic impact on West Virginia, including contributions made by WVSOM alumni delivering health care.
“You all do incredible work here,” Justice said. “If you think of your accomplishments, it is unbelievable. It became this incredible osteopathic story. You have produced the best of the best. … Now, go on and keep doing all the goodness that you’ve already done, and I’ll try in every way I possibly can to stand behind you, to support you and to be your no. 1 advocate.”
Justice’s office also issued a proclamation declaring Dec. 12 to be West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine Founders Day in the Mountain State.
In an introductory speech, WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., spoke of the school’s beginning and its growth in the face of obstacles, while acknowledging some of the physicians and families who played roles in its success over the years.
“In the late ’60s and early ’70s there was a huge need for health care in rural areas,” Nemitz said. “Now, there are almost 1,000 Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine in the state. It’s a remarkable history. While we honor our founders and first president, I also want to recognize the many D.O.s from the West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association who also contributed to helping WVSOM during the early days. There were a lot of people who made this work: the Muscari family, the Wood family and many, many others. We owe them a debt of gratitude as well.”
Nemitz told the audience that while the institution — now the state’s largest medical school — has accomplished a great deal, more remains to be done.
“The vision of these remarkable people has been fulfilled. We have populated small towns and rural areas with D.O.s, and we’re not finished. We’re going to continue to serve West Virginia first and foremost, providing physicians throughout our state and our country,” Nemitz said.
Other speakers at the event included Robert Holstein, D.O., chair of WVSOM’s Board of Governors, and Cynthia Persily, Ph.D., the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission’s vice chancellor for health sciences.
Persily thanked the school for its half-century of contributions to the medical education profession and to the communities in which its graduates serve.
“Fifty years is a long time, especially in these days in which we live for the next ‘like,’ the next ‘click,’ the next ‘swipe.’ I think that the founders, while aspirational, could not even imagine the growth in enrollment, in research, in scholarship, in creativity and creative achievement, and in the partnerships that you’ve realized today,” she said. “You encourage young people to seek careers in medicine, and you provide care across the state and across the nation. You seek to create new models and new knowledge that will impact the health of a population, and for this, we are eternally thankful.”
Families of WVSOM’s founders were presented with commemorative vases following the event.
Also, as part of Founders Day, items were displayed for inclusion in a time capsule that was planted outside the WVSOM Student Center, for opening in December 2047 during the school’s 75th anniversary. Items included current WVSOM promotional merchandise such as shirts, badges and pennants; publications such as magazines, books and flyers; and products emblematic of life in the early 2020s such as a COVID-19 test. The capsule was placed into the ground on Dec. 13.
