THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 26, 1997
The Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry was created by Executive Order. The purpose of the Commission is to advise the President on how unprecedented changes in the health care delivery system are affecting quality, consumer protection and the availability of needed services. Through a series of public meetings, it will collect and evaluate information and develop recommendations on improving quality in the health care system. The Commission will be co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor.
The Commission has broad-based representation from consumers, businesses, labor, health care providers, insurers, and quality and financing experts. The Commission members have expertise on a range of health issues including the unique challenges facing rural and urban communities, children, women, older Americans, minorities, people with disabilities, mental illness, and AIDS, as well as issues regarding privacy rights and ethics. Three individuals selected to serve on the Commission have not completed the appointment process, and will be announced as soon as they are cleared. The following members are announced today:
DONALD BERWICK, of Newton, Massachusetts, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Dr. Berwick is also an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. An expert on children's health care, Dr. Berwick has practiced medicine as a pediatrician continuously since 1976. Dr. Berwick has extensive experience on quality issues, and served as a member of the Panel of Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He has also served on the Committee on the Future of the Patient Record at the Institute of Medicine, was Vice Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force at the Department of Health and Human Services, and currently is the Chair of the Health Services Research Review Sub-Committee of the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. He graduated, summa cum laude, from Harvard College, and earned an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and graduated, cum laude, from Harvard Medical School.
CHRISTINE K. CASSEL, of New York City, New York, currently serves as Chairman of the Henry L. Schwarz Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. She joined Mount Sinai in 1995 after ten years as Chief of General Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago. A renowned expert on aging issues, she is well aware of the special needs of the elderly population and the particular challenge presented by new health care delivery systems. Dr. Cassel has been actively studying demographic and epidemiologic forecasting, social concepts of successful aging, and the care of patients at the end of life. Dr. Cassel also has an extensive background in ethics. In 1992, she was elected to membership at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. She is the immediate past President of the American College of Physicians, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and a Trustee of the Greenwall Foundation. Dr. Cassel received a B.A. at the University of Chicago and an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts.
JAMES CHAO, of Naperville, Illinois, is the President of Metro Provider Service Corporation. The Corporation provides a variety of services to the health care industry, including the provision of health care services and the development of communications systems between providers. Mr. Chao has over 15 years of experience working with health care organizations, and has served as a health care consultant, focusing on issues of health care reimbursement and hospital financing. Mr. Chao was Financial Officer for Columbia Cabrini Medical Center in Chicago, where he was responsible for finances of a three hospital system. Mr. Chao received a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
ROBERT GEORGINE, of Silver Spring, Maryland, is the President of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. He is also Chairman and CEO of the Union Labor Life Insurance Company, which offers managed care products and services, including managed pharmacy programs, provider networks, traditional health indemnity insurance, and alternative funding arrangements to manage trust fund risk to jointly managed trust funds, labor unions, and organized employers. Mr. Georgine serves on the Boards of the American Council of Life Insurance, the Gas Research Institute, and the Committee for National Health Insurance. Mr. Georgine has worked extensively on disability issues; he is a member of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, was formerly a member on the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals and served on the Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council. In addition, Mr. Georgine served on the President's Drug Advisory Council.
S. DIANE GRAHAM, of Paradise Valley, Arizona, is the Chairman and CEO of STRATCO, Inc., a mechanical and chemical engineering firm whose alkylation and grease technologies have been licensed in over thirty countries. As the chief executive of a small company, Ms. Graham is well aware of the difficulties small businesses encounter in trying to offer accessible and affordable health care services to its employees. In 1987, she was invited to join the prestigious "Committee of 200," a national organization of leading women entrepreneurs and business owners. Ms. Graham has served on the boards of over twenty non-profit organizations. She received a Bachelor's degree from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri.
VAL J. HALAMANDARIS, of the District of Columbia, currently serves as the President of the National Association of Home Care (NAHC). Under his leadership, NAHC has expanded its membership more than ten-fold. Mr. Halamandaris served for five years as Counsel to Representative Claude Pepper's House Select Committee on Aging and for fifteen years as Counsel to Senator Frank E. Moss and the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. In 1987, Mr. Halamandaris founded the Center for Health Care Law, a public interest law firm advocating the rights of the elderly, the disabled, and chronically ill children. He is editor and publisher of two national magazines, CARING and Caring People, and has also published several books on aging and home care. Through his numerous and diverse professional experiences, Mr. Halamandaris is aware of the special needs of elderly citizens and the particular challenges presented by new health care delivery systems. Mr. Halamandaris received his B.A. degree from George Washington University and his J.D. from Catholic University of America School of Law.
SANDRA HERNÁNDEZ, of San Francisco, California, currently serves as Director of Health for the City and County of San Francisco in the San Francisco Department of Health. As the first Latina to head San Francisco's health department, Dr. Hernández leads the city's homeless services initiatives, which are the model for cities across the nation. In addition, she implemented one of the first Medicaid managed care programs in a major metropolitan area. Dr. Hernández has served on the National Hispanic Women's Health Initiative Steering Committee, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Committee, and the FDA Anti-Infective Drugs and Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee. Dr. Hernández received her Bachelor's degree from Yale University and her M.D. from the Tufts University School of Medicine.
NAN HUNTER, of New York, New York, is an Associate Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where she teaches Health Law. From 1993-1996, she served as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she worked on numerous health care issues including consumer protection rights, civil rights, and medical records confidentiality, and also assisted in the development of management policy. She is also the former Director of the AIDS Project and Lesbian and Gay Rights Project for the ACLU, where she directed national ACLU policy and litigation projects concerning health care issues. Ms. Hunter has published extensively on health care issues, including AIDS, privacy, and civil rights. Ms. Hunter received a B.A. from Northwestern University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
SYLVIA DREW IVIE, of Los Angeles, California, currently serves as the Executive Director of T.H.E. Clinic for Women in Los Angeles, a primary health care clinic offering prenatal care, pediatrics, and clinical care for women with AIDS. Previously, she served as the Executive Director for the National Health Law Program in Los Angeles, where she worked extensively on maternal and child health issues as well as access issues for low-income populations. Ms Ivie is a past member of the California Health Facilities Commission and served on the Board of Directors of the Medicare Advocacy Project. She won the prestigious Mandela Award. Ms. Ivie earned an A.B. from Vassar College and a J.D. from Howard Law School.
RISA J. LAVIZZO-MOUREY, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the Director for the Institute of Aging, Chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Associate Executive Vice President for Health Policy, and the Sylvan Eisman Associate Professor of Medicine and Health Care Systems at the University of Pennsylvania. As an expert on aging issues, she is well aware of the particular challenges faced by elderly citizens. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey has served on numerous Federal advisory committees, including the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform, the Task Force on Aging Research, the Office of Technology Assessment Panel on Preventive Services for Medicare Beneficiaries, the Institute of Medicine's Panel on Disease and Disability Prevention Among Older Adults, and the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics. She is a member of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
SHEILA LEATHERMAN, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is Executive Vice President of the United Health Care Corporation, which provides a broad range of health care services to purchasers, consumers, managers and providers of health care since 1974. Health Care Policy and Evaluation, which evaluates the performance of health care delivery systems in the areas of quality, cost, and accessability. Ms. Leatherman currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the International Society for Quality of Care, the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, the Health Advisory Board of the Institute of Medicine, and is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Health Services Research of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Ms. Leatherman earned a B.A. degree from Tulane University and a Master's degree from the University of Arkansas.
L. BEN LYTLE, of Indianapolis, Indiana, is President and CEO of Anthem, Inc., one of the largest health care management companies in the country. Anthem offers indemnity, integrated health care networks, workers' compensation, life insurance, and managed care products in all 50 states. He is a Director of several companies, including CID Venture Partners, IPALCO Enterprises, and Indianapolis Power & Light Company. Mr. Lytle is a graduate of East Texas State University and the Indiana University School of Law.
BEVERLY MALONE, of Greensboro, North Carolina, is the President of the American Nurses Association. Additionally, Dr. Malone is Dean and Professor of the School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Malone also maintains a small individual, group and family therapy practice. She has served on the Governor's Task Force on the Nursing Shortage, North Carolina Commission on Health Services, the Board of Trustees of the Moses Cone Health System, and the Board of Directors of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program. Dr. Malone received a B.S.N. in Nursing from the University of Cincinnati, an M.S.N. from Rutgers the State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati.
GERALD MCENTEE, of the District of Columbia, is the President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Mr. McEntee is a Vice President of the AFL-CIO and a member of its Executive Council. He serves on the board of the Alliance to Reinvent Government, the Health Care Reform Project, the Child Care Action Campaign, and is a member of the National Commission on Children. Mr. McEntee is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the Economic Policy Institute. He received a B.A. from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
PAUL MONTRONE, of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, is the President and CEO of Fisher Scientific International, Inc, a leading provider of products and services to scientific and health care research facilities. As a chief executive in the biomedical and health care industry, Mr. Montrone is aware of the health care concerns facing business leaders today. He is a director of the General Chemical Group, Inc., and WMX Technologies. He also serves on the boards of several non-profits institutions, including the National Foundation for Biomedical Research, the Jackson Laboratory, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Montrone graduated magna cum laude from the University of Scranton and holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
PHILLIP NUDELMAN, of Seattle, Washington, is the President and CEO of Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, a non-profit managed health care delivery system, which is the nation's largest consumer-governed healthcare organization. Dr. Nudelman served on the White House Task Force on Healthcare Reform and is a member of the board and current Chair-elect of the American Association of Health Plans. He serves on the board of directors for SpaceLabs Medical, Inc., Cell Therapeutics, Inc., and Advanced Technology Laboratories. Dr. Nudelman holds a Doctorate in Health Systems Management.
HERBERT PARDES, of New York, New York, is the Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he oversees the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, and the School of Dental and Oral Surgery. As an expert on medical schools and teaching colleges, he has developed major changes in the education of physicians, and assumed a national role as an advocate for education, health reimbursement, and support of biomedical research. He is the immediate past chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges. During the Carter Administration, Dr. Pardes was Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1989 to 1990, he served as President of the American Psychiatric Association. He is President of the Scientific Board of the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and is a member of the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association. Mr. Pardes received a B.S. from Rutgers University and an M.D. from the State University of New York.
RON POLLACK, of Alexandria, Virginia, a long-time advocate for low income Americans, currently serves as the Executive Director of Families USA, a national consumer organization dedicated to high-quality, affordable health care. Mr. Pollack has recently issued a report on managed care that raises significant quality concerns and argues for increased consumer protection. Mr. Pollack is a founding Board Member of The Long Term Care Campaign, Americans for Health, and was also a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Mr. Pollack received a B.A. degree from Queens College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
MARTA PRADO, of Hollywood, Florida, is the Senior Vice President of InPhyNet Medical Management and Chief Operating Officer of InPhyNet's Managed Care and Corrections Divisions. Ms. Prado was previously administrator and CEO at Miami General Hospital. A registered nurse, she is former President of the Emergency Nurses Association and was the Legislative Chairperson of the Florida Nurses Association. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Child Care Connection, and formerly served as a member of the Public Policy Committee on Aging and the Medicaid Reform Task Force. Ms. Prado graduated from the Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and the University of Miami Nurse Practitioner Program.
ROBERT RAY, of Des Moines, Iowa, is a former Governor of Iowa, and serves as Co-Chair of the National Leadership Coalition on Health Care. Mr. Ray is an expert on rural health issues and serves as Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health. As Governor, from 1969-1983, Mr. Ray established the Governors Commission on Health Care Costs. He retired in August 1996 as President and CEO of IASD Health Services Corporation. Mr. Ray has also served as Chairman of the National Governors' Association. He received both his undergraduate and J.D. degree from Drake University.
THOMAS REARDON, of Boring, Oregon, is the Medical Director of the Portland Adventist Medical Group. Dr. Reardon is a Trustee and Vice Chair of the American Medical Association. He is a member of the Board of Directors on the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a former Commissioner of the Physician Payment Review Commission and of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Dr. Reardon earned a B.S. degree from Colorado State University and an M.D. from the University of Colorado.
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, of Topeka, Kansas, currently serves as the Insurance Commissioner for the State of Kansas and as Vice Chair of the Health Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Previously, she served as a Member of the Kansas House of Representatives. Her efforts as Insurance Commissioner have resulted in new laws in Kansas, including a bill mandating a 48 hour minimum stay for mothers and newborns in the hospital, prohibition of an insurance deductible for payments of childhood immunizations, and extended portability for widows and divorcees in health care plans. Ms. Sebelius earned a Bachelor's degree from Trinity College and a Masters in Public Administration from Kansas University.
STEVEN S. SHARFSTEIN, of Baltimore, Maryland, one of the nation's leaders in mental health, is President, Medical Director and CEO of Sheppard Pratt, a non-profit behavioral health system. Dr. Sharfstein is Clinical Professor at the University of Maryland and a Professorial Lecturer in Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and at Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of many professional associations, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Psychiatrists, the American Medical Association, and the Southern Psychiatric Association. Dr. Sharfstein received a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
PETER THOMAS, of the District of Columbia, is a principal in the law firm of Powers, Pylers, Sutter & Verville, P.C. Mr. Thomas has a federal law and legislative practice in the areas of health care reform, managed care, reimbursement policy, Medicare and Medicaid, and rehabilitation research appropriations. Mr. Thomas has personal experience with physical disability, using two artificial legs since the age of ten and serves as Co-Chair of the Health Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), a Washington-based coalition of over 100 national disability-related organizations. Mr. Thomas has served on the National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research at the National Institutes of Health and has co-authored an employment guidebook on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Mr. Thomas received a B.A. degree from Boston College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
MARY WAKEFIELD, of McLean, Virginia, currently serves as the Director and Professor of the Center for Health Policy at George Mason University. From 1993 to 1996, Ms. Wakefield was Chief of Staff to Senator Kent Conrad, advised the Senator on the health related issues of the Senate Finance Committee, and analyzed the impact of legislation on health care. A registered nurse, she previously served as Co-Chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus staff organization while serving as Administrative Assistant to Senator Quentin Burdick. A native of North Dakota, Ms. Wakefield earned a B.S.N. from the University of Mary, in Bismarck, an M.S.N. and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas.
GAIL WARDEN, of Detroit, Michigan, currently serves as President and CEO of the Henry Ford Health Systems, one of the nation's leading vertically integrated health care systems and premier academic medical centers. At Henry Ford, he has spearheaded affiliations to optimize the health care services and insurance programs delivered to Detroit area residents. Mr. Warden is the past Chairman of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. He serves on the Governing Council of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, is a member of the Board of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is Vice Chairman of The Hospital Research and Educational Trust, and chairs the Department of Veterans Affairs Associated Health Professions Review Committee. Mr. Warden is a graduate of Dartmouth College and earned a Master's in health care management from the University of Michigan.
ALAN WEIL, of Denver, Colorado, currently is co-director of the Assessing the New Federalism Project at the Urban Institute. This project, the largest in the Institute's 29 year history, will monitor and assess the effects of welfare reform and health care reform around the country. Mr. Weil has previously served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, where he was responsible for Medicaid and other medically indigent programs, health data collection and analysis function, health policy development, and health care reform. As Executive Director, he was the principal health policy advisor to Governor Roy Romer. Mr. Weil's accomplishments include implementation of a mandatory electronic claims submission system for Medicaid, and implementation of an innovative risk-adjustment system for setting Medicaid HMO rates. Mr. Weil received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master's in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
SHELDON WEINHAUS, of St. Louis, Missouri, is an attorney who has worked extensively representing workers in health care litigation, with a practice focus on health benefit and disability claims of patients covered under employer provided group benefit plans. He has devised claims processing and litigation strategies and theories to obtain judicial reversals of coverage denials for life saving and cutting-edge medical procedures, such as double lung transplants and high dose chemotherapy. Mr. Weinhaus serves on the Board of Directors of the Patient Advocate Foundation, was on the Missouri Task Force for Breast Cancer Coverage, and is a member of the National Health Lawyers Association and the National Employment Lawyers Association. Mr. Weinhaus earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a J.D. degree from the Washington University School of Law.
STEPHEN F. WIGGINS, of Darien, Connecticut, is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Oxford Health Plans, Inc. Oxford owns and operates health maintenance organizations and insurance companies in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Connecticut. Prior to his tenure at Oxford, he formed Accessible Space, Inc., in 1979, a non-profit health care company which develops and operates residential facilities for the mobility impaired and brain injured; Mr. Wiggins has continued to serve as a Board member since its founding. Mr. Wiggins received a B.A. from Macalester College and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
The President also announced today that Janet Corrigan, of Columbia, Maryland, will serve as the Executive Director of the Advisory Commission on Consumer Quality and Protection in the Health Care Industry.
Ms. Corrigan is currently a principal researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change. The Center monitors and assesses the evolution of the health care industry and its impact on local health care markets, and consumer satisfaction, access and the utilization of health services. She has also served as Vice President for Planning and Development at the National Committee for Quality Assurance, where she was responsible for the development of a standard set of performance measures, a $2.1 million Report Card Pilot Project, and oversight of state projects involving quality measurement and health plan accountability. Dr. Corrigan received a B.A. from Syracuse University, an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, an M.P.H. from the University of Rochester Medical Center, a Masters of Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Health Services Organization & Policy from the University of Michigan.
