Kaltura Video
Population health disparities: History, tensions, and new policy directions
James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy Lecture
Date & time
Oct 24, 2019,
4:00-5:20 pm EDT
Location
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow.
Professor and associate dean for academic affairs Paula Lantz will explore long-standing tensions between health care versus social policy approaches to reducing racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the health of the U.S. population, drawing heavily from her own research and policy engagement.
About the speaker
Paula Lantz is the associate dean for academic affairs and the James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy at the Ford School. She also holds an appointment as professor of health management and policy at the School of Public Health. Lantz is a social demographer who conducts policy-focused research regarding the role of medical care along with social factors such as housing, income security and education in the health of communities and populations.
Lantz served as the director of the University of Michigan Policies for Action Research Hub, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, engaging in a number of research projects investigating public policy approaches to reducing social inequities in health. She is currently leading a project regarding the potential for and challenges associated with using social impact bonds to finance public/private partnerships aimed at improving population health.
Lantz received an MA in sociology from Washington University, St. Louis, and an MS in epidemiology and PhD in sociology from the University of Wisconsin. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Social Insurance.
About the Hudak Professorship
The University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy established a new professorship for health policy in Spring 2019 with a $2.5 million gift from James B. Hudak (MPP ‘71). Professor and associate dean Paula Lantz is the inaugural Hudak Professor. The Regents of the University of Michigan approved the professorship and appointed Lantz for a renewable, five-year term from March 2019 until August 2024 on March 28, 2019.
The James B. Hudak Professorship of Health Policy will support a faculty member whose research explores health policy issues and aims to address the problems in the U.S. health care system.
The named professorship reflects and advances the Ford School’s strength in health policy. The school was recently ranked the #3 graduate health policy program in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
Hudak recently retired after a highly successful career in health care. His roles included chief administrative officer at CRC Health Group and global managing partner of Accenture’s health care practice. While with UnitedHealth Group, the largest health insurer in the United States, Hudak held the post of corporate chief information officer, followed by chief executive officer of United Behavioral Health. He served as the executive chairman of Paradigm Outcomes until his retirement in 2018.
Hudak has served on the Ford School Committee for more than 20 years, and chaired the most recent capital campaign.