Last month, officials with the Nashville Health Care Council, alongside former U.S. Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, MD, and healthcare economist Larry Van Horn, announced the 2019 class of the Nashville Health Care Council Fellows. The class includes 28 senior executives from across the country representing a diverse array of sectors within health care who will discuss and address the challenges facing the industry.

"The Fellows initiative brings together a remarkable collection of health care's brightest minds each year for a unique opportunity to positively transform our nation's health care system," said Frist. "The healthcare industry is constantly having to evolve and think of what's next, and I'm excited to welcome this new group of leaders who are going to move the industry forward in the years to come."

The 2019 application pool was especially competitive, with the highest number of applications in the history of the program. This is the seventh class to be named for the annual initiative. The members of the 2019 Fellows class are:

• Derek Anderson, Vice President, Business Improvement, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Marc Barclay, Vice President, Provider Networks and Contracting, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
• Tony Briningstool, M.D.,Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, American Physician Partners
• Richard Clark, Western Group President, Acadia Healthcare
• Tim Corvino, M.D., Chief Operating Officer, Covenant Surgical Partners
• Michael Davidoff, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, Phreesia
• Sarath Degala, Principal Healthcare Practice, BIP Capital
• Cherae Farmer-Dixon, DDS, Dean, Meharry Medical College, School of Dentistry
• Audrey Gregory,Market Chief Executive Officer, Saint Francis Healthcare
• Bryan Gregory, Division Vice President, DaVita, Inc.
• Adam Holland, Chief Financial Officer, Tivity Health, Inc.
• Gillian Hooker, Vice President of Clinical Development, Concert Genetics
• John D. Johnston, Senior Vice President, Optum Advisory Services
• Erik Larsen, Vice President - Special Assets Group, HCA Healthcare
• Parth Mehrotra, Chief Operating Officer, Privia Health
• Stephen Pennington, Vice President of Operations Division III, Community Health Systems
• Stephen A. Rector, CEO, Corizon Health
• Monica Rivera, M.D., Vice President, Business Development, Circulation, Inc.
• Jason Ross, Senior Vice President, Revenue and Network Management, LifePoint Health
• Grant Rutledge, Chief Development Officer, HCA, TriStar Division
• J. Stimson, M.D., Senior Adviser to the Chief Health System Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Fahad Tahir, President and CEO, Saint Thomas Midtown and West Hospitals
• Maia Thiagarajan, Managing Senior Counsel, Change Healthcare
• Mike Ussery, President and Chief Operating Officer, National HealthCare Corporation
• Kimberly Weakley-Johnson, Regional Vice President, Provider Solutions, Amerigroup TN
• Pamela Weir, President and CEO, Precera Bioscience
• Marcus Whitney, CEO, Health:Further
• Victor Wu, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, TennCarenitiative

Launched by the Council amid unprecedented industry change in 2013, Council Fellows is aimed at improving the way healthcare executives meet their most critical challenges. The initiative kicks off with a two-day orientation retreat, followed by seven full-day sessions over four months, where class members investigate and evaluate new ideas to address the hurdles facing the U.S. healthcare system. The experience is capped off by a two-day closing retreat.

"As the global center for healthcare delivery and collaboration, Nashville is the only place where this one-of-a-kind leadership experience can take place," said Council President Hayley Hovious. "The Fellows program allows the Council to continue its commitment to cultivating collaboration and developing leadership among executives from top healthcare organizations across the country, of all sizes and sectors."