The Nashville Health Care Council and former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist announced today the 33-member inaugural fellows class of the Nashville Health Care Council.

The initiative, announced in early November, engages industry leaders in defining health care’s greatest challenges and exploring strategies to meet those challenges. The initiative's eight-day-long sessions, to be held between March and June and hosted by Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management, will leverage the expertise of industry experts in Nashville, as well as nationally known figures and leading academic institutions. 

“We set out to assemble a class whose intellect, experience, diversity and industry focus spanned the full spectrum of health care,” Frist, co-director of the Nashville Health Care Council Fellows, said in a release. “These individuals, pulled from the best and brightest our industry has to offer, have a challenging task ahead, and we look forward to their work.”

Frist is teaming with Owen's Larry Van Horn to direct the initiative.

The members of the 2013 fellows class are as follows:

* Merrick Axel – Partner, Cressey & Company
* Bo Bartholomew – CEO, PharmMD
* Laura Beth Brown – Vice President, Vanderbilt Health Services, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
* Molly Cate – Partner, Co-Founder, Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock
* Chris Cigarran – Market President, Employer Division, Healthways
* John Doulis, M.D. – CIO, MedCare Investment Group
* Todd Falk – Division Vice President, DaVita
* Adam Feinstein – Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development, LabCorp
* Stephen Flatt – President, National HealthCare Corporation
* Darin Gordon – Director, Health Care Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee
* Michael Hill – Attorney and Shareholder, Harwell Howard Hyne Gabbert & Manner
* Grant Jackson – General Partner, Council Capital
* Hans Kestler – Vice President, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, BioMimetic Therapeutics
* James Lakes – Director, Business Strategy and Operations, Microsoft Corporation
* Fletcher Lance – Global Healthcare Leader, North Highland
* Ted Lomicka – Vice President and Assistant Treasurer, Community Health Systems
* Evans Looney – President, Tennessee and North Mississippi, Humana
* J.L. Osei Mevs – Senior Associate Vice President, External Affairs, Meharry Medical Center
* Shawn Morris – President, Development and Innovation, HealthSpring
* Frank Moser – President, Aegis Sciences Corporation
* Miriam Paramore – Executive Vice President, Strategy and Product, Emdeon
* Jim Parrott – Partner, Ernst & Young
* Clay Phillips – Director, Provider Relations and Communications, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
* Alan Poenitske – Senior Vice President, Financial Operations, MedSolutions
* Bill Rutherford – COO, Clinical and Physician Services Group, HCA
* Michael Ryan – Managing Director, Avondale Partners
* Jeff Seraphine – President, Delta Division, LifePoint Hospitals
* Andrew Smith – Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Brookdale Senior Living
* Bryanie Swilley – Eastern Division President, IASIS Healthcare
* Chris Taylor – Executive Vice President and CFO, Parallon Business Solution
* Brent Turner – President, Acadia Healthcare
* Mark Wainner – Vice President, Financial Operations, AmSurg
* Paul Wallace – Managing Director, Heritage Group

Caroline Young serves as Nashville Health Care Council president, while Ben Leedle, president and CEO of Healthways, is the council’s chairman.

The Nashville Health Care Council Fellows initiative is presented in partnership with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Community Health Systems, HCA, Healthways, LifePoint Hospitals and Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.