Medical Doctor, Administrator to Refute Healthcare Myths at Forum

From: Public Affairs

November 1, 2007

HARRISONBURG — Arthur Garson Jr., executive vice president and provost of the University of Virginia, will present "Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality" at the 2007 Rocco Forum on the Future. Garson's lecture is based on his April 2007 book by the same title. The forum is sponsored by James Madison University.

DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007
TIME: 3:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Highlands Room, Festival Conference and Student Center, JMU

Garson served as vice president and dean of the University of Virginia's School of Medicine before assuming his current roles.

A pediatric cardiologist, Garson served as president of the American College of Cardiology in 1999-2000 and was chairman of the organization's task force on the uninsured. He has been a member of the White House panel on health policy and was appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson to lead the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003.

Garson currently serves on the Governor of Virginia's Health Reform Commission, chairs the Workforce Subcommittee and is a special consultant on access and the uninsured.

He helped draft a bill that has recently been introduced into both houses of the U.S. Congress, the Health Partnership Act, which funds grants to states for innovations to improve coverage for the uninsured, quality and efficiency.

Garson graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1970. He received his medical degree from Duke University in 1974 and remained at Duke for pediatric residency. He completed his pediatric cardiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and became chief of pediatric cardiology at the Houston school. In 1992, he earned a master's degree in public health from the University of Texas at Houston.

Garson has served as associate vice chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and professor in the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He returned to Baylor and was the senior vice president and dean for academic operations as well as vice president of Texas Children's Hospital before joining U.Va.

Tickets for the Rocco Forum are free and can be obtained by checking http://www.vbexpo.com/. Click on "attendee registration" at the top of the page and complete the required information. A printable ticket from the Web site should be brought to the forum to confirm registration.

JMU Public Affairs contact: Janet Smith, 540-568-8008 or smithjl@jmu.edu.

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