A Community Conversation
Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH), a national leader in the field of integrative health, is hosting a seminal and inspiring dialog among prominent thought leaders in this expanding area of health care on Monday, February 10, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. This event will provide an opportunity to define and better understand the current state of the field, identify emerging trends, and explore future opportunities. The highly accomplished and well-regarded panelists work at the forefront of healthcare reform, and have expertise in healthcare delivery, direct patient care, research, education, and government policy.
To register to attend this event on campus, click here.
To register for the online livestream event, click here.
History and Background
Over the past 40 years, MUIH has grown from being the first accredited U.S. acupuncture school to gaining regional accreditation, and, in early 2013, achieving university status. In addition to offering 18 graduate degree and certificate programs, MUIH students and faculty deliver more than 35,000 clinical treatments and consultations each year. In September of 2013, MUIH entered the online learning arena and will have launched 10 programs and 48 courses online by July 31, 2014.
MUIH is focused on educating tomorrow’s integrative healthcare workforce who are skilled in both contemporary science and ancient healing traditions. Our graduates are practitioners and leaders in health and wellness who differentiate themselves by their healing presence, a skill set gained through MUIH’s transformative and relationship-centered academic and clinical programs.
With an enrollment of nearly 800 students and plans to exceed 2000 students over the next four years, MUIH is the only accredited university on the East Coast exclusively dedicated to holistic health, wellness, and an integrative approach to patient care.
Topics of Discussion
- How do we define integrative health?
- What are the primary challenges and opportunities for integrative health today?
- How do we create a viable economic model for patient-centered integrative health?
- What is Maryland’s plan to financially reward hospitals for keeping people out of hospitals?
- How does health policy and the Affordable Care Act impact integrative health care?
- Can workplace wellness really work and how do we measure the return on investment?
- How do we maximize the efficiency and usefulness of technology in integrative practice management?
- Why is research essential to the future of integrative health?
- What does an integrative health workforce look like today and how will that change in the future?
- Where are the job opportunities for graduates of integrative health programs now and in the coming years?
Our Panel
Click on a name to view their biography
- Adele Wilzack, M.S., R.N., Moderator
Chair of MUIH Board of Trustees
Former Secretary, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Board of Trustees, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health
Dean’s Advisory Council, School of Pharmacy, Notre Dame of Maryland University
Certificate on Aging, Advisory Board, Johns Hopkins University - Jonathan Anders
Chief Strategy Officer, 360 DigitalHealth, Former CEO, Allegeant LLC
Member MUIH Board of Trustees - Janet Kahn, Ph.D
Senior Advisor and Former Executive Director of the Integrated Health Policy Consortium Research Assistant Professor, University of Vermont
Member MUIH Board of Trustees - John Rosa, D.C.
CEO, Accessible Beltway Clinics
Chairman of the Board, New York Chiropractic College
Non-Board Member of MUIH Strategic Business Planning and Development Committee and Institutional Development Committee - Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D.
Secretary, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Lyle Sheldon, FACHE
President and CEO, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health - James Snow, M.A., RH(AHG)
MUIH Academic Director, Integrative Health Sciences
To register to attend this event on campus, click here.
To register for the online livestream event, click here.
Panelists
Adele Wilzack, M.S., R.N., Moderator
Ms. Adele Wilzack has been an influential and highly effective healthcare leader in the state and the nation for more than 40 years. After earning a nursing degree from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, and a master’s degree from the University of Maryland School of Nursing, Ms. Wilzack worked in hospital administration. She then began her career in public health, with a focus on healthcare for the elderly after which she was appointed Assistant Commissioner for Health Services for the Aging and Medical Care for Baltimore, Md.
Ms. Wilzack served as Assistant Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which included administration of the Maryland Medicaid program, and then Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes appointed her Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, making her the first woman and nurse to serve in this capacity. She was appointed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer to continue in this position during his administration. Subsequently, Ms. Wilzack served as the president of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland, a leading long-term care advocacy organization.
Ms. Wilzack has devoted her entire career to advocating for improved patient care and healthcare delivery, and has championed integrative health as a viable option to achieving these goals. Today, Ms. Wilzack serves as chair of the board of trustees of Maryland University of Integrative Health and is a board member of the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center where she chairs the Quality Care Committee. She is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of Notre Dame of the Maryland University School of Pharmacy and a member of the Johns Hopkins Certificate on Aging Advisory Board.
Ms. Wilzack is an advocate for individuals to assume greater responsibility for their personal health. She has personally benefited from and promotes simple practices, including mindful breathing, whole foods nutrition, and daily movement activities to increase one’s sense of well-being. She also asserts that the thoughtful use of language and intention has the power to shift our relationships and our experiences. Ms. Wilzack believes that if these practices and approaches would be adopted by our current disease-focused healthcare system, they would powerfully impact the cost and effectiveness of health care in the nation.
Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D.
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Previously he served as Principal Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Commissioner of Health in Baltimore, Md. Dr. Sharfstein served on the minority staff of the Committee on Government Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives, working for Rep. Henry A. Waxman. He serves on the Health Information Technology Policy Committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice of the Institute of Medicine, and the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and the combined residency program in pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Sharfstein is a graduate of the fellowship program in general pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine.
Janet Kahn, Ph.D.
Dr. Janet Kahn, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont, is a massage therapist and a medical sociologist. Dr. Kahn is also the Director of Integrated Health Care at the Community Health Center of Burlington, Vt., a federally-qualified health center. Dr. Kahn was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Advisory Board on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health and is a member of the National Institutes of Health’s National Advisory Council on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). She served as a member of the workgroup on manual and manipulative therapies as part of the process of creating NCCAM’s second five-year strategic plan. She was a member of the steering committee that initiated the National Policy Dialogue to Advance Integrated Care: Finding Common Ground.
She has been a co-investigator on many massage-related studies with partners at Group Health Center for Health Studies, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Collinge and Associates. Dr. Kahn served as president of the American Massage Therapy Association Foundation as director of research for the Massage Therapy Research Consortium.
Dr. Kahn’s clinical practice focuses on treating people living with chronic pain, as well as people in trauma recovery. With William Collinge, Dr. Kahn won two Telly Awards for the DVD “Touch, Caring and Cancer.” As president of Peace Village Projects, she traveled to the Middle East to treat children recovering from war trauma and training local day care workers in hands-on trauma recovery methods. Dr. Kahn holds a B.A. from Antioch College, an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University.
Jonathan W. Anders
Mr. Jonathan Anders has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in the field of health care, primarily focused on managed healthcare benefits. He is the Chief Strategy Officer for 360DigitalHealth, and the former CEO of Allegeant, LLC, a leading independently owned, wellness-focused, accountable care solutions company in the mid-Atlantic region.
Prior to Allegeant, Mr. Anders was president of a small employee benefits firm that designed, implemented, and managed employer sponsored health plans. Under his leadership, WorkforceTactix became a recognized leader in risk management solutions.
He is also committed to improving healthcare policy in Maryland, serving as the chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee for both the Maryland Association of Health Underwriters and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Mr. Anders also served as co-chair on two committees involved in establishing the Maryland Health Exchange, and is the chairman of Workforcetactix.
John P. Rosa, D.C.
Dr. John Rosa is a licensed chiropractor in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York and owns Rosa Chiropractic and Physical Therapy Center. He also owns and directs Accessible Beltway Clinics and Accessible Physical Therapy Services, comprised of 15 rehab centers in the Washington, D.C. area. Dr. Rosa earned his B.S. from Rutgers University and graduated cum laude with his doctorate from New York Chiropractic College. He has been in private practice and served as an industrial consultant at Polly Pack Industries and founded Total Kinetics, Inc., a biomechanical consulting company that developed state-of-the-art human motion evaluation via digitized video motion analysis for clinical, industrial and sport performance.
Dr. Rosa is currently chairman of the board of trustees at New York Chiropractic College and an active member of the American Chiropractic Association, the American Chiropractic Association Sports Council and the Maryland Chiropractic Association.
Lyle Sheldon, FACHE
Mr. Lyle Sheldon is President and CEO of University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, an award-winning, not-for-profit health system that has received state and national recognition for its quality of care and physician satisfaction. University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health, a member of the University of Maryland Medical System, includes two acute care hospitals, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, and University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital, as well as the Senator Bob Hooper House and an 85-doctor Physician Enterprise. He has been with Upper Chesapeake Health since 1987 when he joined the system as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and as President and CEO since 1995.
Mr. Sheldon has a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College and a master’s in health services administration from George Washington University. A Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives since 1995, he is active in community and professional organizations and has received multiple leadership awards during his career from different organizations.
James Snow, M.A., RH(AHG)
Mr. James Snow is Interim Academic Director of the Integrative Health Sciences Department at Maryland University of Integrative Health. Previously, he served as Academic Director of the Master of Science in Herbal Medicine program.
Mr. Snow has been working in the field of herbal medicine for more than 25 years and is known for his work in integrating knowledge from 19th and early 20th century North American botanico-medical movements with modern research evidence. He is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), the preeminent U.S. association for herbal practitioners, and serves as a member of the AHG Advisory Board.
Mr. Snow has conducted and published research on the cognitive effects of rosemary, is a contributing author to the Gastrointestinal Nutrition Desk Reference, and sits on the editorial boards for Alternative Medicine Studies and the Journal of the American Herbalists Guild. He has served as a subject matter expert and reviewer for multiple journals and organizations including the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, the Appalachian Center for Ethnobotanical Studies, and Journal of Medicinal Food. His current work includes development of rating scales and questionnaires for wellness-based research.