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 (PDF, 215 kb, 8 pages). 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.

This fellowship is currently not active, please check back later for more information.

The 2005 McNerney Fellowship recipient is Robert M. Sigmund, Inaugural Senior Scholar, Department of Health Policy, Jefferson Medical School.

The 2000-2004 recipients of the McNerney Fellowship are:

• Lawrence D. Prybil, Associate Dean and Professor, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa. [Read more]
• Gail L. Warden, a former AHA chairman and president of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. [Read more]
• Howard Berman, a past president of HRET and currently Vice Chairman of Lifetime Healthcare Companies, the parent company of Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield. [Read more]
• Ruth M. Rothstein, chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services in Chicago, Illinois. [Read more]
• Patricia A. Cahill, Esq., a past president & CEO of Catholic Health Initiatives. [Read more]

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