During this luncheon, we will hear from health care leaders who are pursuing innovative ways to provide access and care to Nashville’s most vulnerable and underserved populations.
Dr. Morgan Wills is the President & CEO of Siloam Health, a faith-based, multi-site nonprofit health center serving Nashville’s uninsured. Dr. Wills oversees a diverse, interdisciplinary team of 55 staff and over 600 volunteers caring for roughly 5,000 uninsured patients annually, 94% of whom are foreign-born immigrants or refugees coming from over 80 countries.
In addition, Siloam oversees Refugee Medical Screenings for Middle Tennessee, community health initiatives for medically vulnerable foreign-born communities, and student education programs that train the next generation of health care professionals. A Nashville native, Dr. Wills earned a B.A. in history from Princeton University, an M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and an M.A. in Marketplace Theology from Regent College (Vancouver, Canada). He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians 2006. An award-winning clinical faculty member at Vanderbilt, he is also a graduate of Leadership Nashville and the Nashville Health Care Council Fellows program and has served on the boards of several local nonprofits. Dr. Wills hones his cross-cultural skills at home with his Canadian wife Heather, three emerging adult children, and their Spanish water dog, Pancho.
Joseph Webb is chief executive officer of Nashville General Hospital, a 150-bed academic system with more than 22 clinics. Nashville General is proud to serve as the teaching hospital of the historic Meharry Medical College.
Since joining the hospital in 2015, Dr. Webb has successfully led efforts to improve patient outcomes, enhance the patient experience and grow revenues. During his tenure, Nashville General has earned multiple accreditations from its evidence-based measures and practices that provide quality healthcare. These include The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval accreditation, NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home accreditation, the NCQA Diabetes Recognition Program and Silver-Level recognition by the Commission on Cancer for Nashville General’s Dr. Robert E. Hardy Cancer Center. The hospital also has increased its revenue sources through expanded healthcare services and launched initiatives to attract new commercially insured patients. These efforts ensure that every patient, regardless of their ability to pay, receives high-quality care at Nashville General Hospital.
To fulfill the hospital’s mission and vision to improve the health and wellness of Nashville – one neighbor at a time – Nashville General launched the Food Pharmacy in 2019. The Food Pharmacy serves two audiences, providing “food as medicine” for patients with certain diagnoses and healthy food totes for individuals with food insecurities. Another community initiative, CHEN (Congregational Health and Education Network), launched in 2017. CHEN works with faith-based organizations to reverse health disparities for communities of color through health education and education attainment. Read more.
Justin Pitts is a corporate attorney and long-time advocate for the economically marginalized. Currently, Justin is Senior Vice President and Chief Litigation Counsel for Community Health Systems, one of the nation’s leading operators of hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician clinics. In that role, Justin oversees the Company’s litigation, government investigations, and government relations efforts.
Pitts serves on the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation, the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the United States. He has received numerous awards from the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Legal Aid Society for Middle Tennessee for pro bono legal service, and he is a former Chairman of the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance. He is a Fellow of the Nashville Healthcare Council and is active in both the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Health Lawyers Association. In his community, Justin is the Board Chairman of the Village at Glencliff and serves on the boards of the Williamson County Homeless Alliance and One WillCo. He is a past member of the Governor’s Interagency Council on Homelessness. Justin graduated Carson-Newman University in 1996 (B.A.), and Washington University School of Law (J.D.) in 2001.
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