The Panelists
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Moderator
Dr. Albert Simone
President Emeritus,
Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Albert J. Simone has been a leader in higher education for nearly 50 years. He became president of Rochester Institute of Technology in 1992, serving the university for 15 years before retiring in 2007. Prior to becoming RIT’s eighth president, Dr. Simone was president of the University of Hawaii System and chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa for nine years. He served as dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Cincinnati from 1972 to 1983.
A native of Boston, Dr. Simone received his B.A. in economics from Tufts University and his Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught at Tufts, MIT, Northeastern University, Boston College, Boston University, University of Cincinnati, the University of Hawaii, and RIT.
Dr. Simone is the author of numerous books and articles, and has served on dozens of public and private boards over the years, chairing a number of them. He will continue to serve the university as president emeritus.
Panelists
Nancy Bennett, MD
Director of the Center for Community Health
University of Rochester Medical Center
Dr. Bennett is director of the Community Engagement and director of the Center for Community Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The Center for Community Health serves as an academic center, conducting research and developing and implementing programs that address health disparities, and as an administrative center, helping to link Medical Center resources with community identified needs and strengthening collaboration with individuals, groups, organizations and government to improve health.
Dr. Bennett is also a Professor in the Medicine, and Community and Preventive Medicine Departments at the University of Rochester.
Timothy Engstrom
Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
Co-editor, Health Care Reform: Ethics & Politics
Engstrom initially studied in New York before pursuing an education in Sweden, Britain, Germany, and Edinburgh, Scotland, where he received his Ph.D. Engstrom began his teaching career at the University of Hawaii before coming to RIT in 1988. His areas of expertise include Internet privacy and art/culture philosophy.
A new collection of essays, Health Care Reform: Ethics and Politics, questions the ethics of having so many citizens without basic health care and proposes ways of moving beyond the standard ideological roadblocks. The anthology, edited by Engstrom and Wade Robison, professors of philosophy at RIT, calls for a renewed national dialogue committed to revamping the U.S. health care model guided by moral principles in balance with political and economical realities.
Dr. Lisa Harris
Physician, Temple Medical Group
Panelist, Second Opinion on PBS
Dr. Harris is a primary care physician, specializing in internal medicine and pediatrics with the Temple Medical Group. She is a panelist on Second Opinion on PBS/WXXI. Dr. Harris is in private practice and has been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. She made changes in diet and exercise to treat the condition and currently has the syndrome and diabetes, under control.
She was born in Oneida, New York, the eldest child and only daughter of the honorable Judge Roy and Mrs. Lucille King. Dr. Harris attended Monroe Jr. Sr. High School and then furthered her education at the University of Rochester, where she received a B.S. in neurosciences. Later, she attended Morehouse School of Medicine where she received her medical degree. Her training was completed at the Detroit Medical Center in Detroit. Dr. Harris is boarded in two specialties, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, allowing her to care for both the adult and pediatric populations.
David Klein
CEO, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield
Klein has been chief executive officer of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield and its parent company, The Lifetime Healthcare Companies, since April 2003. Prior to his current position, he held a number of positions with the organization, including senior vice president, executive vice president, chief operating officer, and president.
Klein is very active in community affairs, having served as Chair of the Health Care Advisory Board at the University of Rochester’s Simon School and as Chair of the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater Rochester.
Nationally, David is on BlueCross BlueShield Board of Directors and has also been president of the University of Chicago’s Health Administration Alumni Association.
Joseph Morelle
NYS Assembly, Insurance Committee Chair
Since his election to the New York State Assembly in 1990, Morelle has authored more than 100 laws and established himself as a leader on the issues that matter most to New Yorkers: Economic growth and job creation, crime prevention, and ensuring the health and safety of our most vulnerable citizens.
Morelle is particularly recognized for his efforts to improve New York’s business climate. This is especially true in Upstate New York, which has experienced severe job and population losses since the early 1990s.
In addition to the economy in Upstate New York, Morelle’s legislative priorities focus on the region’s vast cultural and natural resources, supporting military veterans, and instituting a broad range of anti-crime measures, including mandatory background checks for nursing home and home-health care workers, civil confinement for dangerous sexual predators even after release from prison, and the elimination of the statute of limitations in felony rape and sexual assault cases.
Sandy Parker
President and CEO
Rochester Business Alliance
Parker is president and chief executive officer of the Rochester Business Alliance, a post she has held since 2005. She has taken a strong community leadership role and was instrumental in establishing the Rochester Business Alliance as the region's "Voice of Business."
In 2006, Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy awarded her a key to the city for her leadership in the Fair Share Coalition, formed to seek parity in state aid for Rochester. Under her leadership, the RBA Healthcare Initiative was founded, bringing together key business leaders and stakeholders in the health care system to seek ways to improve quality and access to medical services, while keeping costs affordable.
She is listed as one of Greater Rochester's Most Influential Women, and in 2002, she won the Athena Award given each year to a woman for her outstanding contributions to business and her community.
Stewart C. Putnam
Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Unity Hospital
In 2006, Putnam assumed the role of vice president and chief operating officer of Unity Hospital. In this administrative leadership role, Mr. Putnam oversees the operations and development of services of the acute care facility.
Prior to his position at Unity Hospital, Putnam worked at St. Mary’s Hospital as the executive director of Westside Health Services until he was appointed president and chief executive officer of the hospital in 1995.
His accomplishments include the development of a wide range of community services in inner city Rochester, for which St. Mary’s Hospital received the prestigious Foster G. McGaw Award in 1996.
Putnam’s active role in the Rochester community has included positions as vice-chair on the Board of Directors for RochesterWorks, Inc. and serving on the Monroe County Health Department Health Action Steering Committee.
Fran Weisberg
Executive Director, Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency
Weisberg has more than 25 years experience in human service, community leadership, administration, policy-making and fundraising within the Rochester community. She served as President/CEO of Lifespan for over 10 years, leading the organization to provide direct services to those 55 and older.
In addition, she created a statewide model to combat Elder Abuse and co-chaired the new Statewide Elder Abuse Consortium. Most recently, she served as the Vice President for External Affairs and Strategic Directions at Catholic Family Center.
Her background includes both operational and planning/programming development responsibilities at the institutional, community, and state level.
