Health Care 2024: MELINA DAVIS

The board of the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV), a trade organization that represents more than 30,000 physicians, physician assistants, residents and medical students, brought Davis on as its executive vice president in 2014 and made her its CEO four years later. 

During the Virginia General Assembly’s 2020 session, Davis and MSV advocated for lawmakers to pass a law allowing doctors and physician assistants to seek mental health care and help for career fatigue without fearing repercussions to their medical licenses. Then-Gov. Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurosurgeon, signed a law creating the SafeHaven program in March 2020. In 2021, the law was expanded to include other health care professionals.

Today, MSV, partnering with VITAL WorkLife, manages SafeHaven, which offers clinicians resources such as  peer coaching and counseling to help with career fatigue and mental health issues.

Before coming to MSV, Davis was CEO and president of the American Lung Association of the Atlantic Coast. She also founded PlanG Holdings, a consumer platform that allows people to donate to charitable causes.

Davis has a degree in international studies from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University.