Karen Bowling to lead WVU Medicine’s government advocacy

Karen Bowling, who joined the senior leadership team of the WVU Health System four years ago, has taken on a new role within the health system to lead all advocacy efforts with federal and state policymakers. As executive vice president of government affairs, Bowling will work with elected and appointed officials in local, state, and federal government to ensure the enterprise's voice is heard on issues that impact day-to-day operations.

Bowling served previously as the West Virginia Secretary of Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) under former West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. That experience, along with her long and distinguished career in healthcare and higher education, makes her a great fit for this role.

Before taking the helm of DHHR, Bowling held a variety of direct care and leadership positions in the healthcare and education arena. Her career started as an emergency room nurse in a small rural hospital in Wyoming County. She continued to work in acute care and hospital supervision until 1983, when she joined the Wyoming County Board of Education to develop the School Health Program. She also served in a number of management capacities in both the hospital setting and higher education until 1990 when she began working in hospital administration. In 2001, Bowling became the CEO of Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley, West Virginia.

Bowling continues the excellent work in government advocacy started by Bob O’Neil, our long-serving chief administrative officer and past general counsel who is now semi-retired and working part-time for the health system on key projects.