When John R. Raymond, Sr., joined the Medical College of Wisconsin as the President and CEO 14 years ago, he had a vision to expand from Milwaukee to serve the entire state of Wisconsin. That vision has led the institution to grow and mature significantly.
The Medical College of Wisconsin is a health sciences university, with four missions: Teaching, research, clinical care and community engagement. The Medical College of Wisconsin has educated or trained 50 percent of the practicing physicians in Wisconsin and is one of the top 100 research universities in the U.S.
“Our regional campuses in Green Bay and Wausau, which matriculated their first students in 2015 and 2016, now serve as a pipeline to bring physicians to northern and central Wisconsin, two regions of our state suffering from critical healthcare workforce shortages,” said Raymond.
During his time as president and CEO, the university has added a Pharmacy School and added advanced degree offerings in data science, precision medicine, genetic counseling and public health. Raymond was also a key part of the pivot to remote teaching driven by the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. “Due to the diligent planning, we successfully kept learners, essential employees and patients safe while simultaneously protecting our core business functions,” he said. “We were able to transform our core missions quickly and successfully and establish a new business model and cadence of doing things differently.”
As a result, Raymond said the college benefited from new creativity, new work models, new curricula and new ways to connect with patients. “Our top line revenue continues to grow, with a current year budget of $1.6 Billion, despite strong headwinds at the intersection of higher education and healthcare and severe workforce shortages of healthcare professionals,” he said.
In order to continuously reignite his passion as a leader, Raymond said he focuses on the impact. “Through the commitment to excellence demonstrated every day by our employees and learners and the remarkably positive impact that our institution has on communities in need, I am able to continuously reignite my passion,” he said.
His passion is also ignited by the fact that the Medical College of Wisconsin is the third largest private medical school in the country. “I am inspired and energized by MCW being an economic engine and social exemplar,” Raymond said. “It’s also our successes in bringing world-class talent to Wisconsin and the region and the abiding commitment to identify and eliminate health disparities and the underlying determinants of health that create and perpetuate those disparities.”
For his continuous commitment to the wellbeing of others, Raymond has been named a two-time Titan 100.
