Today, the
Nashville Health Care Council and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., announced the 2014 class of the
Nashville Health Care Council Fellows. Thirty-two senior health care leaders were selected for this nationally-unique experience focused on transforming the nation’s health care system.
“This Fellows class includes some of the nation’s strongest health care talent and represents a broad spectrum of the industry, incorporating provider, payer, technology, finance, policy and other sectors,” said Frist, who co-directs the initiative with Larry Van Horn, a leading expert in health care management and economics, and professor at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. “Our curriculum, combined with this impressive group of professionals will foster meaningful discussion and I look forward to working with them as we tackle the complex issues facing health care today.”
The Fellows initiative engages industry leaders in clearly defining health care’s greatest challenges and exploring new strategies to meet these issues facing the U.S. health care system. The inaugural class graduated in the summer of 2013.
“The Fellows program is the industry’s paramount forum for thought leadership and an important guide for leaders of the nation’s health care industry,” said William F. Carpenter III, chairman and chief executive officer of LifePoint Hospitals and chairman of the Council board.
The members of the 2014 Fellows class are:
- Elizabeth Bierbower – President, Employer Group Segment, Humana
- Marty Bonick – Vice President, Operations, Division 1, Community Health Systems
- Charles Byrge – President and Chief Executive Officer, Harpeth Capital
- Phil Clark – Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, EnableComp and Complete Holdings Group
- Will Clark – Senior Vice President, Strategy and Brand, Brookdale Senior Living
- Phillip Clendenin – Executive Vice President, Operations, AmSurg
- John Dreyzehner, M.D. – Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health
- David Duckworth – Chief Financial Officer, Acadia Healthcare
- Mitch Edgeworth – Chief Operating Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- David Frederiksen – Chief Executive Officer, PatientFocus
- Robert Gallagher – Group Regional Operations Director, DaVita
- Paul Gilbert – Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Governance Officer, LifePoint Hospitals
- Meaghen Greene – Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Managed Care, American HomePatient
- Robert Harris – Partner, Waller
- Daniel Hart – Vice President, Corporate Development, HealthTech Holdings
- Scott Huebner – President, Operations, Cigna-HealthSpring
- Angela Humphreys – Member, Bass, Berry & Sims
- John Maki – Vice President, Regional Sales and Account Management, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
- Will Morrow – Vice President, Development, HCA
- Eric Paul – Senior Vice President and Chief Managed Care Officer, IASIS Healthcare
- J. Edward Pearson – Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, HealthStream
- Rosemary Plorin – President, Lovell Communications
- Kirk Porter – Senior Vice President, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Ed Powell, Ph.D. – Chairman, eMD
- Paul Rein – Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Cannon Research Institute
- David Rogero – Principal, Cressey & Company
- Tammy Stephens – Senior Vice President, Operations Finance, Healthways
- Cathy Taylor, Dr.Ph., B.S.N. – Dean and Professor, Belmont University
- Martha Thorne – General Manager, Allscripts
- David Vreeland – Partner and Co-Founder, Cumberland Consulting Group
- Michael Wiechart – President and Chief Executive Officer, Capella Healthcare
- Herman Williams, M.D. – Chief Medical Officer, RegionalCare Hospital Partners
The Council Fellows Initiative
Fellows is the next step in continuing Nashville’s rich health care legacy of leadership, innovation and creativity. The initiative engages key professionals to better implement business strategies, create value, drive industry growth and effect change.
“Over the past four decades, Nashville has become the nation’s health care industry capital. An initiative like this could only happen here, and we’re greatly encouraged by the innovative ideas and strong connections developing through Fellows,” said Caroline Young, Council president.
The eight day-long sessions, held between January and June, will leverage the expertise of the industry’s founding experts in Nashville, as well as nationally-known figures and leading academic institutions. The integrated curriculum will include topics such as health care policy reform, shifts in reimbursement systems, disruptive innovation in technology, population health, advancements in personalized medicine, consumerism, integrated delivery networks, population health management and health care analytics.
Personalized leadership training and a unique immersion component are also hallmarks of the specially-designed curriculum. The sessions will be hosted at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
The Fellows initiative is presented in partnership with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee,Community Health Systems, HCA, Healthways, LifePoint Hospitals and Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
More information, including class member biographies, will be posted atwww.healthcarecouncilfellows.com as it becomes available.
About the Nashville Health Care Council
The Nashville Health Care Council, founded in 1995 as an initiative of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, is an association of health care industry leaders working together to further establish Nashville’s position as the nation’s health care industry capital. Nashville’s health care industry generates more than $70 billion in revenue and 400,000 jobs worldwide, and is Nashville’s largest and fastest growing employer. For more information on the Council, visit
www.healthcarecouncil.com.