Former Medicare Administrator, Leading National Advocate for Health Care Quality to Speak Oct. 13 at UAMS
| LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will host a speech by Donald M. Berwick, M.D., health care industry expert and former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13 as part of the Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture series.
The free lecture, “Clinicians as Leaders in Health Care Reform,” will be in the Fred Smith Auditorium on the 12th floor of the UAMS Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute. Due to limited auditorium seating, tickets will be required. To get a ticket, contact Deborah Taylor in the College of Health Professions Dean’s Office, at (501)686-5731 or at TaylorDeborahC@uams.edu.
The presentation also will be broadcast live to several locations on the UAMS campus to accommodate for overflow seating. No ticket is required to view the lecture at those locations, which include the Hamlen Boardroom adjacent to the Fred Smith Auditorium, the Pauly Auditorium (Room G219) in the College of Public Health building, and the two auditoriums (Rooms 126 and 226) in the Wilson Education Building.
Berwick is the founding chief executive officer and president emeritus of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, where he served as president for nearly 20 years. In July 2010, President Obama appointed him administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a position he held until December 2011.
He was formerly clinical professor of pediatrics and health care policy at the Harvard Medical School, and professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Berwick has served as vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the first “Independent Member” of the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees, and chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He served on President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry. He is a recipient of several awards and author of numerous articles and books, including Promising Care: How We Can Rescue Health Care by Improving It and Escape Fire: Designs for the Future of Health Care.
The Winthrop Rockefeller Distinguished Lectures were established in 1972 by friends of former Arkansas Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller. The endowment that funds the lecture program allows five universities in the University of Arkansas system to offer free public lectures that communicate ideas to stimulate public discussion, intellectual debate and cultural advancement.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.
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