The Third Annual National Conference
Health Policy in the United States
April 18-20, 2005

The third national conference, "Health Policy in the United States," addressed the challenges that America continues to face on how best to provide adequate, cost-effective health care to the greatest number of people. The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership convened a group of health policy experts from around the country to consider the various dimensions of this question, from prenatal care to end-of-life concerns.

Among those experts, the Riley Institute welcomed Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. and Joseph J. Fins, M.D., F.A.C.P. as keynote speakers. For a complete list of speakers and their biographies, and the schedule of events, click here. For more photos, click here.

Louis Sullivan, MD

The Honorable Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. launched the national conference with his address, "Diversity and Health Care Delivery and Outcomes" on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 8:00 P.M. in the Watkins Room, University Center at Furman University.

Dr. Sullivan is the founding Dean and first President of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM). With the exception of his tenure as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), an appointment by President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, Dr. Sullivan was President of MSM for more than two decades. On July 1, 2002, he left the presidency, but continues to serve on the MSM Board of Trustees, and to teach.

A native of Atlanta, Dr. Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse College in 1954, and eaned his medical degree, cum laude, from Boston University School of Medicine in 1958. He is certified in internal medicine and hematology. He has taught at Harvard Medical School, Seton Hall College of Medicine, Boston University Medical Center, and founded the Boston University Hematology Service at Boston City Hospital.

Joseph Fins, MD, FACP

Joseph J. Fins, M.D., F.A.C.P. concluded the national conference with his address, "Affirming the Right To Care and Preserving the Right to Die: Reflections on Schiavo" on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at 7:30 P.M. in Hartness Pavilion at Furman University.

Dr. Fins is the Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics in the Departments of Public Health and Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University where he serves as Associate Professor of Medicine, Public Health as well as Medicine in Psychiatry. Dr. Fins is Director of Medical Ethics at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, Associate for Medicine at The Hastings Center, and Physician-Ethicist-in-Residence at the HealthCare Chaplaincy in New York City. He is a recipient of a Project on Death in America Faculty Scholars Award and a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Visiting Fellowship. In July 2000, Dr. Fins was appointed by President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.

A diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Fins is a graduate of Wesleyan University (B.A. with Departmental Honors, The College of Letters, 1982) and Cornell University Medical College (M.D., 1986). He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in General Internal Medicine at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. A practicing internist, Dr. Fins is on the attending staff on the Cornell Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he chairs the hospital’s ethics committee. Dr. Fins teaches medicine and clinical ethics to Weill-Cornell medical students and house staff at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He has authored over one hundred publications in medical ethics.

To view a Greenville News editorial on the conference, click here; to view an article by Liv Osby, a health writer for the Greenville News, click here; to view a Greenville News article written by Dr. Joseph Fins, click here.

For more photos, click here.

You can click on the links at right to learn more about our past national conferences and policy series. Members of the public are encouraged to join us for stimulating discussions featuring leading experts.