After 11 years as Chair of the Carilion Clinic Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. John Burton has decided to transition out of the Chair role and into a role as a practicing ED physician as well as Medical Director of Risk Management and Claims.

This is a change Dr. Burton has been contemplating in recent years, but the timing wasn’t right.  When the pandemic hit, those plans were put on hold.

Dr. Burton came to Carilion Clinic from Albany Medical Center in May 2010, where he was the Vice Chair of academics and interim chair for the Department of Emergency Medicine. In addition to serving as Chair of Emergency Medicine since 2010, Dr. Burton served as the VP of Medical Affairs for CMC from 2014 to 2017 and as the interim medical director for Risk Management and Claims since 2019.

As Chair of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Burton led the department through many accomplishments, including the advancement of an academic department for Emergency Medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in 2010; welcoming the first EM residents to Carilion Clinic; opening the first VelocityCare; expanding Emergency Medicine into Tazewell and Lexington; and partnering with Psychiatry on the Bridge to OBOT (Office-Based Opioid Treatment) program. The department’s academic and clinical excellence has motivated many of our VTCSOM students to pursue careers in Emergency Medicine.

Throughout his career, Dr. Burton has been active in clinical research and has authored many peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, and book chapters. His academic activities include editorial board appointments to the journals Prehospital Emergency Care and Academic Emergency Medicine. He also served four years on the American College of Emergency Physicians Clinical Advisory Committee.

Dr. Burton has graciously agreed to continue in the Chair role while we will conduct a national search for the next Chair.

Please thank Dr. Burton for his work as Chair as well as his continuing work as a cornerstone of Emergency Medicine at Carilion.