October 15, 1998 Contact: Lew Harris (615) 322-NEWS Lewis.G.Harris@vanderbilt.edu

Cal Turner Program in Moral Leadership

to present health care forum

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The human and moral dimensions of medical care will be examined as part of an Oct. 27 forum sponsored by the Cal Turner Program in Moral Leadership for the Professions at Vanderbilt University.

Titled "Health Care: Where do we go from here?" the forum is designed to enhance the dialogue over the future of health care in the United States. The program, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Room 208 of the Vanderbilt Medical Center's Light Hall. Complimentary parking is available in the Vanderbilt Hospital Garage.

"Future medical care is one of the most important and critical issues we face as a society in the United States," said Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean Joseph C. Hough, director of the Cal Turner Program.

"The Cal Turner Program in Moral Leadership is attempting to discern and place before the public some of the difficult moral issues imbedded in the debate over medical care," added Hough, who will serve as host for the forum. "This public discussion will move us in this direction by bringing together persons with differing viewpoints on the future of medical care."

Serving as ethics commentator will be Richard Zaner, director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Clinical and Research Ethics and the Ann Geddes Stahlman Professor of Medical Ethics at Vanderbilt.

Also on the program is Anne Phelps, health policy adviser for the Senate sub-committee on public health policy and safety chaired by Sen. Bill Frist.

Two panel sessions are scheduled. The first, focusing on national health care coverage issues, will include Ron Pollack, president of Families USA Foundation; Dean Rosen, senior vice president for policy, Health Insurers Association of America; Gordon Bonnyman, managing attorney of the Tennessee Justice Center; and Jamie Amaral, national director-health care of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

The second panel will examine the delivery of health care service. The panelists are Dr. Mark Mahler, corporate medical director of Phoenix Health Care of Tennessee; Dr. David Gerkin, president of the Tennessee Medical Association; and Dr. Clif Cleaveland, clinical professor of medicine at the Chattanooga Unit of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine.

The event co-sponsors include the VUMC Center for Clinical and Research Ethics, the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, the Vanderbilt Divinity School, the Owen Graduate School of Management, the Vanderbilt Law School and Partners for a Healthy Nashville.

Cal Turner Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dollar General Corporation, pledged $4 million to Vanderbilt in 1994 to endow in his father's name the Cal Turner Program in Moral Leadership for the Professions. The mission of the program is to foster understanding of moral behavior, ethical practices and individual responsibility in such professions as law, medicine, business and ministry. The Cal Turner Program includes both University focused and community-based initiatives.

-VU-

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the News and Public Affairs home page on the Internet at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News.