Meet new Health Central CEO Mark Marsh

OCOEE  The whirlwind sweeping West Orange health care continued this month when Orlando Health officials proclaimed Mark Marsh a senior vice president and Greg Ohe's replacement as CEO and president of Health Central Hospital.

While Ohe transitions to senior vice president of ambulatory services, Marsh will be continuing his acclimation to the area after a long time as CEO of 270-bed acute care hospital Gateway Medical Center in Clarksville, Tennessee.

“It starts as a pretty lengthy process – which is good – having a chance to meet with several of the team members with Orlando Health, starting with David Strong and his vision, Dr. (Jamal) Hakim and various key players back in January, about four trips,” Marsh said. “One of the things that appeals to me so much … the people, the culture … it's so much of what we do in health care. In any business today, it's about relationships, but it's such a warm, inviting place I'm from. … And I see some of these similarities, if not more so, in Orlando.”

Marsh grew up in Cincinnati and then studied health care administration at Western Kentucky University. Since then, he has been in medical management either in Middle Tennessee or southern Kentucky, he said.

“I'm a believer in longevity – continuity is very important,” Marsh said. “I spent some of my earlier years on the physician side, so working more directly with physicians and even the hospital. I was with St. Thomas, a not-for-profit system in Nashville … for about five years on the physician side.”

After that, he spent time with Phycor; was CEO of Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia, Tennessee, for about three years, starting in 2001; oversaw Bowling Green, Kentucky's Greenview Regional Hospital for about nine years as CEO; and managed Gateway Medical Center for roughly three years, he said.

“Mark is an accomplished executive,” said David Strong, Orlando Health president and CEO. “He will be integral in helping chart the course for Health Central Hospital and health care delivery in West Orange County.”

Marsh attended Western Kentucky on a football scholarship as a quarterback, which he said prepared him for team-building in health care administration, trying to achieve a common vision or a plan. The appeal simply was helping others each day, he said.

“It's very important that we can provide at the local level ... but it's all about that basic experience,” he said. “We want to be around to offer those great services, the high quality of care centers at a local level, so families can be involved in that health care plan. I'm excited about the expansion – the tower, the ER, the cancer center – but I think there's so much potential in ... that West Orange area and how Health Central can continue to meet those health care needs.”

Growth in health care is a tremendous need in the area, especially given growth projections, he said.

For his move to West Orange County, Marsh said it began with recruiting doctors from Central Florida who swore by Orlando Health's friendly collaboration with physicians. The merits of local swimming, ballet and UCF's engineering program helped on a personal level for his children, too, he said.

“Quite honestly, I'm looking for this,” he said. “I'm moving three kids ... a junior, an eighth-grader and a sixth-grader. This is not something transitional. I plan to be here for many years. We hope my youngest ... finishes high school there in West Orange.”

The commitment runs as deep as a house in Gotha the Marshes will close on June 3, not far from Olympia High, he said.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].