To honor more than 15 years of vision, leadership and service as a member of its board, HRET sponsors the Walter J. McNerney Fellowship for Health System Improvement. It recognizes the contributions made to the field during the 45-year career of Walter J. McNerney, Herman Smith Professor Emeritus of Health Policy at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

The purpose of the McNerney Fellowship is to increase understanding, unity and collaboration among all segments of the health care field. It is given annually to an individual who has demonstrated a consistent pattern of leadership and innovation in health care. Fellows receive a one-time $10,000 award to pursue work that will provide new insight into how different sectors of the health care system can better work together for improved outcomes.

The 2000-2005 recipients of the McNerney Fellowship are:

2005
Robert M. Sigmund, Inaugural Senior Scholar, Department of Health Policy, Jefferson Medical School

2004
Lawrence D. Prybil, Associate Dean and Professor, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa.

2003
Patricia A. Cahill, Esq., a past president and CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives.

2002
Ruth M. Rothstein, former chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services in Chicago.

2001
Howard Berman, a past president of HRET and past Vice Chairman of Lifetime Healthcare Companies, the parent company of Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield.

2000
Gail L. Warden, a former AHA chairman and president emeritus of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan.

For additional information e-mail dpierce@aha.org.