WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014
3:45 TO 4:45 PM
Lexington Convention Center-Bluegrass Ballroom 2
MODERATOR
Julia Costich, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Health Management & Policy
University of Kentucky College of Public Health
Julia Costich, J.D., Ph.D. is a professor in the Dept. of Health Services Management, and also serves as associate director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center. Her current research focuses on legal and policy issues in public health and health care, health reform, and electronic health information exchange.
She served as department chair 2005-2012, director of the Master of Health Administration program 2010-2012, and director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center 2003-2010. Before joining the UK public health faculty in 1998, she administered academic medical programs, practiced health care law, and served as a policy specialist and administrator for state health care programs.
PANELISTS
Rice C. Leach, M.D.
Commissioner of Heath
Lexington-Fayette County Health Department
Rice C. Leach was born in Lexington, Kentucky and grew up there and in Louisville. He attended Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts and received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky in 1966. He did his rotating internship as an officer of the United States Public Health Service and remained on active duty until 1993. During his Public Health Service career he was medical director of hospital staffs, hospital commander, community health physician, director of a multi-state program in the Indian Health Service and served as chief of staff to the Surgeon General. He has had international health experience in Guatemala, Bolivia, and Panama and was a consultant to the Guam Memorial Hospital.
He served as Kentucky’s Commissioner of Public Health from 1992 until 2004 during which time he worked to implement several public health initiatives ordered by the Kentucky General Assembly. He chaired the Attorney General’s Task Force on Controlled Substance Abuse and participated in emergency responses and environmental clean up activities. From 2004 until 2010 he was medical director and executive director of the primary care center at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. He was professor and preventive residency program associate director at the University of Kentucky, College of Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health until he became commissioner of health for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department in March 2011.
He obtained his Master of Health Services Administration degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, is certified by American Board of Preventive Medicine, and a fellow of the American College of Physician Executives. He has received numerous awards and has served on several state, local, and national committees during his career.
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Bill Nold, J.D., B.A.
Deputy Executive Director
Office of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange
Mr. Bill Nold is a lifelong resident of Louisville. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1968 with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He graduated from the University of Louisville in 1974 with a J.D. In 2001, after 26 years of private practice, he became employed with the legal division of the Kentucky Department of Insurance as a staff attorney. In this position, his job duties primarily related to issues involving health insurance and worker’s compensation insurance. In 2008, he became the director of the Health and Life Division within the Department of Insurance, where his job duties involved all aspects of health and life insurance regulation.
In September 2012 Mr. Nold was appointed as the Deputy Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of the Health Benefit Exchange. The Office has been working over the last year to establish a state-based exchange that meets the requirements of state law and the ACA.
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Gabriela Alcalde, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
Health Policy Director
Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky
Gabriela is Health Policy Director at the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and works primarily in the Promoting Responsive Health Policy Initiative.
Dr. Alcalde has diverse public health experience in the government, nonprofit, academic, and community sectors. Her portfolio includes qualitative research, community engagement, policy analysis and development, program development and implementation, capacity building, advocacy, and writing for various audiences. She has publications on public health and health policy topics and has presented on these topics at the local, national, and international level. She has been active on boards and coalitions addressing public health policy, health equity, and communities of color. She currently serves as vice-chair on the Louisville Metro Board of Health.
She holds a DrPH in Health Administration from the Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; a Master’s in Public Health (M.P.H.) from Boston University; and a Bachelor’s of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology from the University of Louisville.