About

As the nation’s health care system navigates an era of unprecedented change, Nashville is poised to advance its legacy of health care leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Nashville Health Care Council Fellows initiative is designed to engage and educate those who will carry the industry forward. It is the next step in Nashville’s rich legacy of health care innovation and creativity, further securing Nashville’s position as a premier industry cluster.

The Council Fellows initiative brings together select industry executives to explore new solutions that meet the challenges facing the U.S. health care system in years ahead.  The annual initiative engages these key professionals to better implement business strategies, create value, drive industry growth and effect change.  It leverages the experience of the industry’s founding experts as well as nationally-known figures and leading academic institutions.

Over the course of eight day-long sessions, Fellows encounter three foundational elements of a nationally-unique curriculum:

ENGAGE

in a forum for thought leadership and collaborative dialogue to help guide the future of the health care industry.

EXPERIENCE

first-hand the issues faced by Nashville’s health care organizations through immersion experiences.

EXPLORE

personalized leadership development that best prepares candidates for their future growth.

The Council Fellows is co-directed by Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., and Larry Van Horn, PhD, health care management and economics professor at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Benefits for Fellows

  • Gain a deep understanding of the challenges facing the U.S. health care system today.
  • Learn new ways to define problems and develop solutions.
  • Work collaboratively with peers and future leaders in the industry.
  • Implement strategy and better effect change.
  • Learn proven approaches to effective leadership and change management.

Benefits for Organizations

  • A seat at the table among those who will shape health care’s future for years to come.
  • Knowledge and insight shared in class that can be applied immediately at the organization.
  • Strategic discussions with and exposure to the nation’s thought leaders, from policy, government, finance and academia.

Support from the Industry

Supporting the vision for the Fellows initiative is an esteemed group of Nashville health care leaders and organizations who represent a broad cross section of the health care industry, including:

Council Fellows Advisory Committee

  • The Honorable William H. Frist, M.D. (Council Fellows Advisory Committee Chairman) Partner, Cressey & Company
  • Larry Van Horn Co-director, Council Fellows,
    Associate Professor of Economics and Management, Executive Director of Health Affairs, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
  • William F. Carpenter III Chairman & CEO, LifePoint Health
  • Neil de Crescenzo President and CEO, Change Healthcare
  • JD Hickey CEO, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
  • Milton Johnson President & CEO, HCA
  • Anna-Gene O’Neal President & CEO of Alive Hospice
  • C. Wright Pinson, M.D. CEO, Vanderbilt Health System
  • Dee Anna Smith CEO, Sarah Cannon Research Institute
  • Wayne T. Smith Chairman & CEO, Community Health Systems
  • Donato Tramuto CEO, Healthways

Partner Organizations
Change Healthcare