Healthcare Management Club President Tiffany Seawell welcomes panelists for the business and medical schools’ joint panel discussion on health care reform in North Carolina.
BUIES CREEK — Health care in the United States is undergoing a transformation that requires the clinical and business sides of health care to come together to better understand each other, said Oscar Aylor, director of community and global health at the Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine. “This is the wave of the future.”
That future was on display Nov. 13 in the Leon Levine Hall of Medicine Sciences where Campbell’s School of Osteopathic Medicine and Lundy-Fetterman School of Business held a joint panel discussion on health care reform in North Carolina that featured some of the state’s leading health experts and drew more than 200 students, industry leaders, executives and health care professionals.
“The best thing about this joint program was the demonstration of the business school and the medical school collaborating on a program of interest not only to both programs, but also to the community,” Aylor said. “It makes me optimistic about the ways we will work together on similar ventures in the future. I heard many attendees comment in this regard as well.”
The joint panel discussion — officially titled “To Expand or Not to Expand: Healthcare Reform in North Carolina” — had been in the making since the beginning of the semester. LeJon Poole, associate professor and director of the School of Business’ Healthcare Management Program, approached student Tiffany Seawell, president of the Healthcare Management Club, with the idea for the panel discussion.
“Campbell University has to engage the community in meaningful ways to be the transformational university that we aspire to be,” Poole said. “We have a talented, eclectic blend of faculty and students that are passionate about serving the needs of business and the community. This event showcased the network, both internal and external, that Campbell has access to. This is particularly true in the health-related professions.”
The panelists included Bo Bobbitt, a health care attorney with the Smith Anderson law firm; Kristen L. Dubay of the N.C. Community Health Center Association; Charles Larrison, CEO of the Erwin-based Good Hope Hospital; and Bill Pully, president of the N.C. Hospital Association. Campbell faculty part of the panel were Aylor; Dr. David Tillman, assistant professor of public health; and Dr. Chris Stewart, associate professor of internal medicine.
In addition to organizing large parts of the event, Poole, Seawell and other officers of the Healthcare Management Club developed the list of questions that the moderator — Jason Debruyn, the Triangle Business Journal’s health care reporter — asked the panelists. Among the specific topics addressed were the Affordable Care Act, funding, Medicaid and what to expect in the future.
“Everything that was discussed during the event is exactly what we were hoping for,” said Seawell, a senior in healthcare management. “To see so many people take an interest in what I’m so passionate about was overwhelming. I was so proud to see the panel discussion be such a success.”