Huntington, WV — The Board of Directors of OVP HEALTH CARE, a non-profit organization committed to making quality health care services accessible to all people, has selected Wade Martin as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Martin, 25, of Wheelersburg, OH, graduated from Marshall University in May 2020 with a Master’s of Science degree in Health Care Administration, and was hired shortly afterward as an Operations Manager for OVP HEALTH, a separate, for-profit health care company with wide-ranging operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina.
As CEO of OVP HEALTH CARE, Martin will be responsible for the growth, development and oversight of a network of Community Health Centers throughout the region that provide comprehensive, high quality, primary care services in underserved areas, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.
OVP HEALTH CARE, with headquarters in downtown Huntington, WV, currently operates Community Health Centers in Proctorville, OH, Wheelersburg, OH, Gallipolis, OH, and Ashland, KY, and will soon open OVP HEALTH CARE Dentistry, in affiliation with Marshall Health, at 1423 Third Avenue in Huntington.
“The Board of Directors recognized Wade’s outstanding leadership potential long before his appointment as CEO,” said David Smith, Chairman of OVP HEALTH CARE. “Wade is mature beyond his years, and his excellent communications, organizational, and leadership skills made him the obvious choice as our CEO. We expect him to be a real asset in all phases of operations, ensuring quality health care access for all, especially those who’ve been overlooked in the past.”
In addition to his academic success at Marshall University, Martin was a standout pitcher on the Thundering Herd baseball team, where he was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team and All-Academic Team in 2017, and he earned the C-USA Academic Medal (GPA of 3.75 or higher) every season he played for The Herd. Martin came to Marshall University after a remarkable pitching career under Coach Mike Estep at Wheelersburg High School, where he led the Pirates to back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013.
Paying close attention to Martin at the time was Marshall University pitching coach Josh Newman, himself, a 2000 graduate of Wheelersburg High School, and now, an assistant coach at Penn State University. Newman jumped at the chance to recruit Martin to Huntington.
“Wade is a winner,” said Newman during an interview with the Portsmouth Daily Times in 2017. “There are special people that have a chance to impact you in your lifetime, but of all of them, he’s the most special person I’ve ever coached, and I’ve coached first-round draft picks and recruited guys that have gone on to play in the Major Leagues. Wade is a winner in life, and is an absolute blueprint of a guy that I want to recruit in the future.”
“The valuable lessons I learned through athletics definitely helped to shape the trajectory of my life and career after my playing days were over,” said Martin. “Baseball taught me the value of hard work, discipline and teamwork, and it also helped me understand that, while we all fail, what’s important is how we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, learn from our mistakes, and get back in the game. I plan to use those same life lessons to help guide me in leading OVP HEALTH CARE, as we work each day to make high quality health care available to everyone in our communities.”
For more information about OVP HEALTH CARE, please visit ovphealthcare.org.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
