Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and U.S. Representative Jim Cooper provided the keynote addresses for “Diagnosing Our Future,” the inaugural presentation in Belmont University’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Science & Nursing Speaker Series. The event was held on October 13 in the Frist Lecture Hall in the Inman Center on Belmont University’s campus.
The theme of the speaker series, “Diagnosing Our Future,” reflects the call to collaboratively advance new ideas to improve healthcare and healthy living for future generations. The purpose of the series is to connect these ideas with the greater community of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and with students in Belmont’s health science programs who are preparing to serve society as physical therapists, pharmacists, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, and social workers.

The healthcare forum opened with comments from Dr. Wilhelmina Leigh of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C.; Curt Thorne, president and CEO of MedSolutions in Franklin, Tenn.; and Landon Gibbs, executive director and co-founder of SHOUTAmerica. Each of these healthcare industry leaders raised questions and concerns regarding healthcare reform and its impact on various constituencies. Gov. Bredesen and U.S. Representative Cooper then presented keynote addresses regarding current federal efforts to reform healthcare and participated in a follow-up dialogue regarding these efforts. The event was moderated by law firm Trauger and Tuke’s Byron Trauger, an attorney who specializes in health care, complex civil litigation, general business matters, government relations and regulatory agency work.
The next scheduled Speaker Series event is March 25, 2010 with Dr. David Williams of Harvard University, an internationally recognized authority on social influences on health.