Pelosi, Eshoo and Health Leaders Hold Health Care Forum at Stanford University
Pelosi, Eshoo and Health Leaders Hold Health Care Forum at Stanford University
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Contact:Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami, 202-226-7616
Palo Alto, CA â€" Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo hosted a health care forum this afternoon at Stanford University that brought together national experts in public policy, academia, business, medicine, to discuss a vision for the future of our health care system.
Pelosi and Eshoo issued the following joint statement after the forum:
"Today, we brought together the leading minds in public policy, academia, business, and medicine for an informed dialogue, with the intention of creating a healthier America. Democrats recognize that our current system of health care falls short, and that we must develop a vision for improving the health of the American people. We will continue these conversations to take America in a New Direction."
The forum, a series hosted by Speaker Pelosi across the country, centered on how our nation's health care system must be reformed from just treating diseases to also being proactive and working to prevent disease in the first place. Workforce issues were also discussed, namely the need to emphasize quality primary care and the role nurses. These experts also discussed how to change the doctor-patient relationship in the treatment of chronic disease and how technology, such as electronic medical records, can play a critical role in creating a healthier population.
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The following experts participated the forum:
John Chambers
Mr. Chambers is Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems. He previously served as senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and Operations at Cisco. Prior to joining Cisco, he spent time at both Wang Laboratories and IBM. Mr. Chambers has served two American presidents; most recently as Vice Chairman of the President George W. Bush National Infrastructure Advisory Council, where he provided industry experience and leadership to help protect the United States' critical infrastructure.
Dr. Benjamin Chu
Dr. Chu is regional President of Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Before he joined Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Chu served as president of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation. Dr. Chu is a primary care internist by training and possesses extensive health care experience as a clinician, administrator, and policy advocate. He also served as Acting Commissioner of Health for the New York City Department of Health, and has experience as a leader in academic health centers.
Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann
Dr. Desmond-Hellmann is president of Product Development for Genentech's Development, Process Research & Development, Product Portfolio Management, Regulatory, Alliance Management, Business Development and Pipeline Strategy Support functions. Prior to assuming her current position at Genentech, she was a clinical scientist, and executive vice president, for Development and Product Operations and chief medical officer. Dr. Hellmann is an adjunct associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Dr. Kathleen A. Dracup
Dr. Dracup is Dean and Endowed Professor in Nursing Education, at the UCSF School of Nursing. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, and a leader in the field of cardiovascular nursing. Her professional career includes positions as a university professor and as an advanced practice nurse in a variety of cardiac care settings.
John Freidenrich
Mr. Freidenrich is Partner Emeritus of Bay Partners. He founded Bay Partners in 1976 and led the firm for more than a quarter century. Beginning his career as a lawyer, Mr. Freidenrich founded the law firm of Ware and Freidenrich in 1968. Now called Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich, it remains one of Silicon Valley's pre-eminent firms serving the technology community. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Packard Children's Hospital, and Director of Stanford Hospital and Clinics.
Dr. Kevin Grumbach
Dr. Grumbach is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF and Chief of Family and Community Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. He is the Director of the UCSF Center for California Health Workforce Studies, Co-Director of the UCSF Center for Excellence in Primary Care, and Co-Director of the Community Engagement Program for the UCSF Clinical Translational Science Institute.
Dr. John L. Hennessy
Dr. Hennessy is the President of Stanford University and the founder of MIPS Computer Systems Inc. Prior to becoming President of Stanford, he served as director of Stanford's Computer System Laboratory, a research center run by Stanford's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments, and as chair of the Department of Computer Science and Dean of the School of Engineering. He serves as a Board member of Cisco Systems, Inc., Communications, The Daniel Pearl Foundation and Google.
Dr. Philip A. Pizzo
Dr. Pizzo is Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. Prior to assuming his position at Stanford, Dr. Pizzo was the physician-in-chief of Children's Hospital in Boston and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Pizzo has served as head of the National Cancer Institute's infectious disease section, chief of the NCI's pediatric branch, and acting scientific director for NCI's Division of Clinical Sciences.
Dr. Paul Volberding
Dr. Volberding is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, Co-Director of the UCSF-GIVI Center for AIDS Research and Chief of Medicine at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center. Dr. Volberding's professional activities are centered at San Francisco General Hospital, where he established a model program of AIDS patient care, research, and professional education. Dr. Volberding is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences
Dr. Elias Zerhouni
Dr. Zerhouni is the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and leads the nation's medical research agency, overseeing NIH's 27 Institutes and Centers with more than 18,000 employees and a fiscal year 2007 budget of $29 billion. Dr. Zerhouni is a world-renowned leader in the field of radiology and medicine. Prior to joining the NIH, Dr. Zerhouni served as executive vice-dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, chair of the Russell H. Morgan department of radiology and radiological science, Martin Donner professor of radiology, and professor of biomedical engineering and Vice Dean for research at Johns Hopkins.