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Carter L. Marshall, HSAG Vice President, Dies at 68

PHOENIX, ARIZONA—Carter L. Marshall, MD, MPH, Vice President of Clinical Quality Assessment at Health Services Advisory Group since 1992, died of pancreatic cancer on February 18, 2005.

Dr. Marshall, whose multifaceted career gave him a unique perspective on health care, had been the clinical lead for HSAG’s hospital quality improvement projects for the past several years. “Dr. Marshall’s experience and great wealth of knowledge were tremendous assets to HSAG,” said Herb Rigberg, MD, HSAG CEO. “We could always count on him to quickly see to the heart of any problem and to devise practical solutions. Carter was a friend and a colleague whose spirit will always be with us.” This sentiment was echoed by Suzanne Powell, RN, BSN, MBA, HSAG Director of Acute Care Programs, who said, “Dr. Marshall not only gave brilliance and foresight to all the projects he touched at HSAG, he also touched the hearts of all those who knew him. The lives of Medicare beneficiaries and of his friends are better for having known him. He will not be forgotten.”

The son of a physician, Dr. Marshall graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1958, from Yale Medical School in 1962, and received his MPH from the Yale School of Public Health in 1964. After serving in the U.S. Army in Okinawa in 1965–67, he became an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine from 1967–69. He then joined the faculty of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York as Associate Professor and Professor of Community Medicine. He was Associate Dean at Mt. Sinai from 1969–76, and, for two years, the University Dean for Health Affairs at the City University of New York. In 1976–77 he helped set up a new medical school at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He joined the faculty of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in 1977 as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Office of Primary Health Care Education (now the Department of Family Medicine). He served as Director of Medical Education at UMDNJ from 1984 to 1989. Dr. Marshall moved to Tucson in 1990. In addition to his work at Health Services Advisory Group, he was Clinical Research Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Arizona and Adjunct Professor at the School of Health Administration and Policy at Arizona State University.

Dr. Marshall was the coauthor of Dynamics of Health and Disease, an introductory text for allied health workers, and contributed more than 70 articles to the medical literature—most recently dealing with quality assessment issues. In addition to health care, his many interests included photography, Greek history, military history, American history, and Arizona Wildcats basketball.

He is survived by his wife, Norma Davenport, and four children.

Health Services Advisory Group will commemorate Dr. Marshall by naming its annual rural hospital quality award for him. The first Carter L. Marshall Rural Hospital Quality Award will be given in April 2005.

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