Chief of Staff, Atlanta VA Health Care System
Board Members
Dr. Robert R. Norvel Jr., M.D., MBA, was appointed as the Chief of Staff for the Atlanta VA Health Care System in July 2022. Before his appointment, he served as the Acting Chief of Staff for the VA Northeast Healthcare System, a detail from his role as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Veterans Integrated Network 7, where he has served for the past six years as special advisor to the Chief Medical Officer for clinical oversight, compliance, and quality of care for the eight VA hospitals in VISN 7.
In Dr. Norvel’s 25-year VA career, he has served as the Acting Chief of Staff for the Tomah VA Medical Center, Acting Chief Medical Officer for Veterans Service Integrated Network (VISN) 7, Acting Chief of Staff for the Columbia South Carolina VA, Acting Chief of Staff for the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, the Acting Chief of Staff for the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, the Physician Manager of the Trinka Davis Veterans Village, the Deputy Chief of Ambulatory Care at Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, Emergency Director for The Atlanta VA Medical Center, The Tuscaloosa VA and The G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA. He has been a full-time staff physician at the Mountain Home VA and a locum tenens physician for the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Medical Center, the Asheville VA Medical Center, the Fayetteville, Arkansas VA Medical Center, the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center, the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and the Roseburg VA Medical Center.
In 1988, Dr. Norvel received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Alcorn State University (Lorman, MS), where he was the second generation to graduate from this Historically Black University. He attended the University of Mississippi Medical Center and earned his M.D. in 1993. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at The Miriam Hospital Brown University in 1994 and his residency in Internal Medicine at The University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1996. Dr. Norvel is a 2010 graduate of Leadership VA and obtained an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Alabama in 2009.