Profile: Dr. Olen E. Jones Jr.

By Christian M. Giggenbach
Register-Herald Reporter

LEWISBURG January 10, 2009 11:40 pm

— “My ultimate goal is that when people hear ‘WVSOM,’ they automatically relate it to its quality of students, staff, faculty and physical plant. I’ve always said, it’s not how many things we do, but how well we do them. I see the role of the osteopathic school as continuing to address the mission statement of the institution, and that is first and foremost to provide quality medical education.“
In 1987, those were the prophetic words of then-newly appointed West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine President Olen E. Jones Jr. as written by Register-Herald reporter Vaughn Rhudy. At the time, Jones was leaving a top position at Marshall University to take over a relatively unknown medical school with an uncertain future that was rife with budgeting problems — state funding had recently been cut by $300,000.
Under his leadership for the next 21 years, Jones systematically helped transform the troubled rural Greenbrier County medical school into one of the top schools in the nation and, along the way, made WVSOM synonymous with the word quality.
In his first year at the helm, the school had about 21 fifth-year students as interns. In 2008, the school’s incoming freshman class was 211 with about 2,500 applying for those vaunted seats.
Back then, students practiced the art of becoming a doctor out of only one building. But over time, Jones and his vision of quality would oversee 13 new campus constructions and several renovation projects, including the Robert C. Byrd Clinic and the recent geriatrics center at the clinic.
Last week, the 71-year-old Jones stepped down as president to begin a new chapter in his life, leaving behind a legacy at the medical school that may never be equaled. But the road that led him there was filled with obstacles, setting up the perfect scenario for a man who welcomes challenges and has a penchant for persistence and details.
Patty, his wife of 50 years, nicknamed him “Bulldog” because “once he gets a hold of something, he doesn’t let it go until he gets the job done.”
In 1980, Jones became WVSOM’s interim president for one year, but returned permanently seven years later. At the time, Gov. Gaston Caperton had received a recommendation that the medical school should become a clinical school only, with the first two years of medical education at Marshall University.
“Gov. Caperton had some interesting points when he first talked to me about closing. He was deeply concerned about what we were doing and how we were doing it,” Jones said. “He said quality had to be emphasized from one end to the other.”
Jones said one turning point in the school’s history came when he appeared before the Legislature to make the case to keep the school open.
“I was relatively young at the time, and so when I appeared before a joint meeting of the Legislature, I simply asked them how many of them had a D.O. as a physician,” Jones remembered. “A huge number held up their hand. And that answered the question. From that minute on, I believe the governor knew the school had potential.”
Two more significant turning points came in the early 1990s when the medical school received a major national grant and Charleston Area Medical Center began accepting WVSOM students as interns, he said.
“For the first time that I can remember, the three medical schools sat in the same room and we jointly wrote the proposal and we received the Kellogg grant,” Jones said. “That started a whole new atmosphere here. As a matter of fact, during his last term, Gov. Caperton served as our commencement speaker and received a honorary degree.
“Our students were excellent, but people didn’t know how good. An official from Charleston Area Medical Center spent the whole day here, and within three days he wanted our students. Here was one of the most outstanding medical facilities in the state wanting our students. That was another stamp of approval. With those combinations, we began to move forward.”
But Jones admits the school’s commitment to quality and excellence could not have been achieved without the support of its board of governors, faculty and staff — which he believes are the finest in the country.
“I can’t tell you the hundreds of people that have made all of this possible. I just happened to be at the top and getting more credit than I ever deserved,” Jones said. “Here, research is second and students are first. We encourage research, but what we are about is teaching, so we have emphasized that teaching is the most important factor and it still is.”
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In 1997, the medical school began receiving national honors such as being named as one of the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, an honor that would continue unabated for the next 10 years. Along the way, more than $30 million in new construction, a quadrupling of students, and faculty and staff that tripled helped cement the school as one of the best in the country.
Today, the school is debt-free. Jones said he’s seen between 1,800 to 2,000 medical students become doctors during his tenure.
“I think the umbrella was to improve the quality of life for everyone, if you can do that,” Jones said. “But in training physicians, if you get up every morning and think I am touching their lives and they are going to touch so many other lives in a positive way, that’s an awesome responsibility, and what you want to do is to produce the best physician possible for the public and patients. That’s the energy and catalyst that keeps you going. Every day you get up and try to improve on that and assist the student to have the best environment ever.
“Also, try to be as transparent as possible on all items, don’t fool anyone and be straightforward and truthful. In the long run, sometimes the truth hurts, but you have to say it the way it is and people have responded. They may differ with us, but in the long run, they responded to us favorably.”
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A self-described health nut, Jones says daily workouts help keep him fit and young. In what some may consider to be their twilight years, Jones is showing no signs of slowing down. Why, then, step down from the presidency at this time? Jones said the timing was right.
“When I reflected upon this a year ago, I knew the national accrediting team would be here at this time and I thought this would be an ideal time to make a change,” he said.
“So from the school’s perspective, it’s an ideal perfect storm to make the change right after going through accreditation. I also looked at finances and where we are with building and where we are with applications and how we are marketing the school. I looked at myself and said things are going exceedingly well, but hey, wait a minute, maybe we need fresh ideas, fresh leadership.
“And then I looked at my own life and my wife’s and knew there has to be some time that I can spend with my grandchildren and do some of things we want to do. The reason I’m leaving is because we’ve taken the school as far as we can. It’s better to go out on top of the game.”
Jones said spending time with his family will be paramount for him, but he doesn’t discount the idea that he could end up as the president of another medical school sometime in the future.
“I guess in reflection I’ve always had trouble balancing how much time on the job versus how much time with my family, and I’m sorry to tell you it was out of balance with time spent with my family because I was too job-oriented, and if I had it to do over again, I would have had more balance. That’s a hard confession to make,” Jones said.
“I’ve got a list of options and one may be getting into some kind of consulting or doing some evaluation or accreditation. I’ve been contacted by head hunters to potentially go to other places in a similar role, and that’s a possibility. Yeah, I’ve got some years left in me.”
And what does Jones think of his own legacy at the school? Besides the numerous awards, being named twice on a “50 most powerful” West Virginians list and having a Robert C. Byrd Clinic room named in his honor, Jones once again talks about the word “quality.”
“I believe I have left here an atmosphere of excellence. If you are not willing to step in here and do it right, then stay away. As a student, as a faculty member or a staff member, because what has made us, I believe, is the quality of graduates and the way we are doing that It’s all about quality. Quality is what is selling this place to students who are paying over $50,000 a year in tuition. Students want a quality education.”
— E-mail: cgiggenbach@register-herald.com

Olen E. Jones Jr.

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