Ascension Health Interview

Long before congressional committees began debating health reform legislation, Ascension Health, a Healthcare Leadership Council member and the nation’s largest non-profit healthcare system, had developed a set of principles on how to move toward a high-quality U.S. healthcare system that offered affordable coverage for all Americans.

Ascension CEO Anthony Tersigni has been a leading, insightful voice in the health reform debate and, therefore, I took great interest in an interview with he and Ascension’s Chief Advocacy Officer Susan Nestor Levy conducted by Kaiser News Service.

As we find ourselves in the midst of intensifying political confrontation over health reform and groups within Congress threatening to bring the whole process down if they don’t get their way on particular provisions, I think all would do well to pay attention to a statement Tony Tersigni made in the interview:

“Finally we have everyone pushing for health reform. We have industry, labor, government, business all saying now is the time for us to do something. Shame on us as a society if we miss this opportunity. We will lose it for a generation if we lose it this time.”

The Ascension interview can be found here.