Conference Speakers

Stuart H. Altman, MA, PhD, HFACHE

Stuart H. Altman, MA, PhD, HFACHE is Dean of The Heller School for Social Policy & Management and Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at Brandeis University. He has an MA and PhD degree in Economics from UCLA and taught at Brown University and the Graduate School of Public Policy at University of California at Berkeley. 

Dr. Altman is an economist whose research interests are primarily in the area of federal and state health policy. In 2006, Health Affairs listed him among the authors of the 25 Most-Read Health Affairs Papers and 25 Most-Read Health Affairs Papers Overall online. Modern Healthcare, Celebrating 30 years, listed Stuart Altman among the 30 people who have had the most influence on healthcare over the past 30 years; and, for the past four years, they named him among the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.  In June 2004, he was awarded the AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator Award.

From 2000-2002 he was Co-Chair for the Legislative Health Care Task Force for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1997, he was appointed by President Clinton to the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Dr. Altman was Dean of The Florence Heller Graduate School from 1977 until July 1993 and interim President of Brandeis University from 1990-1991. He served as the Chairman of the congressionally legislated Prospective Payment Assessment Commission for twelve years. ProPac was responsible for advising the U.S. Congress and the Administration on the functioning of the Medicare Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) Hospital Payment System and other system reforms. 

Dr. Altman is a member of The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences; a member of the Board of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts; and, Co‑Chairman of the Advisory Board to the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at The Heller School for Social Policy & Management, Brandeis University. In addition, Dr. Altman has served on the Board of The Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and on the Governing Council of The Institute of Medicine. He is the Chair of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored Council on Health Care Economics and Policy, a private non-partisan group whose mission is to analyze important economic aspects of the U.S. health care system and evaluate proposed changes in the system. He is also Chair of The Health Industry Forum which brings together diverse group leaders from across the health care field to develop solutions for critical problems facing the healthcare system.

Charles D. Baker

Charles D. Baker is President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc. He joined HPHC as CEO in mid-1999, and was brought in to turn around the organization’s financial performance. HPHC has posted net gains since 2001 and has generated positive financial results for twenty-six consecutive quarters.

Before coming to Harvard Pilgrim in May 1999, he was President and CEO of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. Prior to joining Harvard Vanguard, Baker spent eight years in Massachusetts state government, where he served as Secretary of Administration and Finance and Secretary of Health and Human Services during the Weld and Cellucci administrations. His focus was reforming the Massachusetts Medicaid program and overseeing a major overhaul of the Commonwealth's regulatory and purchasing functions.

Thomas C. Dolan, PhD, FACHE, CAE

Thomas C. Dolan, PhD, FACHE, CAE, is President and CEO of the American College of Healthcare Executives, an international professional society of more than 30,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems, and other healthcare organizations. With comprehensive programs in credentialing, education, career counseling, publications, and research, ACHE works toward its goal of being the premier professional society for healthcare leaders by providing exceptional value to its members.

Before his appointment as President and CEO, Dr. Dolan served as ACHE’s Executive Vice President. Prior to joining ACHE, he held a variety of teaching, research, and administrative positions at St. Louis University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Washington, and the University of Iowa.

He has served as chair of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration, the Association Forum of Chicagoland, the American Society of Association Executives Foundation, and the Institute for Diversity in Health Management. He has also served as President of the Mental Health Association in Missouri and as a member of the board of trustees of Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis. Dr. Dolan currently serves as chair-elect of the American Society of Association Executives and is also on the board of the International Hospital Federation.

He is board certified in healthcare management and a Fellow of both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American Society of Association Executives. Dr. Dolan is also a Certified Association Executive. He received his doctorate in hospital and health administration from the University of Iowa and his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago.

Gary L. Gottlieb, MD, MBA

Gary L. Gottlieb, MD, MBA, serves as President of Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals; a position he has held since March 1, 2002. He is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School.

Partners HealthCare recruited Dr. Gottlieb to become the first chairman of Partners Psychiatry in 1998 and he served in that capacity through 2005. In 2000, he added the role of President of the North Shore Medical Center where he served until early 2002.

Prior to coming to Boston, Dr. Gottlieb spent 15 years in positions of increasing leadership in health care in Philadelphia. He established Penn medical center’s first program in geriatric psychiatry and developed it into a nationally recognized research, training and clinical program.

Dr. Gottlieb rose to become Executive Vice Chair and Interim Chair of Penn’s Department of Psychiatry and the Health System’s Associate Dean for Managed Care. In 1994, he became Director and Chief Executive Officer of Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, the nation’s oldest, independent, freestanding psychiatric hospital.

Now, as a recognized community leader in Boston, Dr. Gottlieb also focuses his attention on workforce development and disparities in health care. He was appointed by Mayor Thomas Menino as chairman of the Private Industry Council, the city’s workforce development board, which partners with education, labor, higher education, the community and government, to provide oversight and leadership to public and private workforce development programs. In 2004-2005, he served as co-chair of the Mayor Task Force to Eliminate Health Disparities.

For Dr. Gottlieb, one of his personal missions is to improve access to the best possible health care for everyone.