SPHIS Home » News » Health Management and System Sciences Department Names Two Executive’s-In-Residence: Tom Walton & Steve Hanson
Health Management and System Sciences Department Names Two Executive’s-In-Residence: Tom Walton & Steve Hanson
The Health Management and System Sciences (HMSS) Department in the UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SHPIS) recently launched a new Executive-in-Residence (EIR) Program. This program is designed to integrate senior business leaders into the life of the school, thus providing opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to interact with these executives.
HMSS has named Tom Walton and Steve Hanson as its Executive’s in Residence.
Tom Walton is a population health consultant working with a variety of local, state and national organizations. The focus of his work is multi-sector community-wide projects.
Previously he served as director of population health for KentuckyOne Health, director of business development for KentuckyOne Health Partners, an accountable care organization, and system director for Healthy Communities for KentuckyOne Health. He has participated in many community and statewide initiatives including the National Governors Association Super Utilizer Policy Academy, Catholic Health Initiatives Total Health Task Force, Jefferson County Affordable Care Act Implementation Steering, Enrollment, Health Literacy, and Outcomes committees, and the board of the Kentuckiana Health Collaborative.
Prior to his work for KentuckyOne Health, he worked at University of Louisville Hospital for over two decades in a variety of management and performance improvement roles. He has a master’s degrees in social ethics and systems science.
In addition to being the EIR, Walton also serves on the SPHIS Community Advisory Board.
Steve Hanson currently serves on the faculty of the University of Louisville as an educator and executive resource for the students. He is also involved in advising startup companies in the healthcare space, consulting and interim management, and writing blogs with particular focus on the developing "mega" health systems.
Hanson has served as CEO of Baptist Health of Kentucky and Indiana, Senior Executive Vice President of Texas Health Resources in Dallas/Fort Worth, and CEO of Appalachian Regional Healthcare in Kentucky and West Virginia over the past nearly twenty years. He chaired the American Hospital Association's prestigious Council on Health Systems in 2012-13 and served on it for a number of years. He has also chaired the Metro Louisville United Way campaign, the Louisville Health Enterprise Network and Greater Louisville Inc.
Prior to his work for Baptist Health, Hanson served in as CEO, COO, and other C-suite roles in western New York, Chicago, Iowa and Indiana. Hanson received a Master of Public Health in health administration from the University of Oklahoma and a BS in urban and regional planning from Iowa State University.
Some of the EIR’s responsibilities will include:
- Participating in classes
- Mentoring students
- Participating in faculty meetings
- Providing input on curriculum design and course content
- Supporting enrollment efforts
- Supporting fundraising efforts
- Facilitating relationships between SPHIS faculty, staff, and students with local, state, national and international corporations, governments, coalitions, community organizations, health care providers, other University of Louisville Schools, and other universities
- Promoting the Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky and SPHIS programs
