Tennessee announces appointments to Health Care Modernization Task Force – Tennessean
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Natalie Allison Nashville Tennessean
Published 11:15 AM EDT Oct 9, 2019
The governor’s office has announced appointments to the newly-created Health Care Modernization Task Force, a group that is being tasked with brainstorming strategies to improving healthcare policy in Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Lee announced his plan to assemble the task force during his first State of the State address in early March. It wasn’t until this week when membership to the 25-member task force was made public.
The committee is chaired by Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter and Bill Carpenter, the former CEO and chairman of LifePoint Health.
It also consists of eight state legislators — two of whom are Democrats — along with doctors, nurses, medical industry executives and others.
While McWhorter said the task force’s first meeting has not yet been scheduled, the group’s meeting will be open to the public.
Ahead of appointing the task force, between July and August the governor’s administration held four closed-door listening sessions, including one at Lipscomb University, where a Tennessean reporter was told to leave. They also took part in 50 one-on-one or small group meetings with unspecified stakeholders.
More: Gov. Bill Lee’s administration has formed long-awaited ‘Health Care Modernization Task Force’
Based on feedback during the listening tour, McWhorter said the group of nine state commissioners identified the following topics for the task force to focus on:
- Access to transportation for medical services
- Increasing the use of technology and telehealth in rural areas without hospitals
- Improving health in rural areas
- Addressing social determinants and root causes of poor health
- Improving transparency in healthcare, such as with medical billing.
In an interview on Monday, McWhorter said it was unlikely the task force would recommend expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a legislative act that would extend coverage to roughly 300,000 Tennesseans without health insurance, but one to which Gov. Bill Lee and many Republicans in the General Assembly are opposed.
He said the task force and the governor’s office would be looking to more gradual, longer-term solutions to attempt to improve health outcomes in the state.
In addition to the chairmen, task force members include:
- Senate Speaker Pro Tem Ferrell Haile
- Sen. Bo Watson
- Sen. Paul Bailey
- Sen. Raumesh Akbari
- Rep. Pat Marsh
- Rep. Robin Smith
- Rep. Ron Travis
- Rep. John DeBerry Jr.
- Dr. Mike Carrigan, MD, Chief Administrator, Premier Medical Group
- Dr. James Bailey, MD, MPH, FACP, Professor and Director, Center for Health System Improvement, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
- Dr. Brian DeBusk, PhD, MBA, First Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees, Lincoln Memorial University
- Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, PhD, MD, President, Meharry Medical College
- Melanie Keller, RN, BSN, MHA, CEO Meritan, Inc.
- Mary Kiger, MPP, Executive Director of TN Charitable Care Network
- Kathie Krause, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital
- Shantelle Leatherwood, MHA, CMPE, CEO, Christ Community Health Services
- Alan Levine, MBA, MHS, Executive Chairman, President and CEO of Ballad Health
- Dr. Jim King, MD, Family Physician
- Kim Parker, MSSW, Director of Inpatient and Crisis Services, Pathways Behavioral Health Services
- Jeff Tibbals, Scott County Mayor
- Dr. Michael Ugwueke, DHA, MPH, FACHE, President and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
- Dr. Andrea Willis, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Tennessee
- Dr. Randy Wykoff, MD, MPH & TM, Dean and Professor, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University
Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.
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Published 11:15 AM EDT Oct 9, 2019
