Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., is chairman of the board of the National Health Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, whose goal is to improve the health of Americans by enhancing health literacy and advancing healthy behaviors.  He also is chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Sullivan Alliance to Transform America’s Health Professions. He was the founding dean and first president of Morehouse School of Medicine and is now President Emeritus.  He served as chair of the President’s Commission on Historically Black Colleges and Universities from 2002-2009, and was co-chair of the President’s Commission on HIV and AIDS from 2001-2006.

Read more: Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. 

 -Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.

In spite of millions Americans without access to needed health care,  health insurance reform continues to be a political hot potato.   But, the need to address the ills of the system only grows.

While the Congress and the country struggle with the swelling costs of our healthcare system, little time is being spent on how to address the growing lack of access to appropriate care faced by many of our citizens.

For example, what isn’t mentioned is how emergency dental care is contributing greatly to skyrocketing medical costs.

A report released this week by the Pew Center on the States, shows that more than 830,000 visits to emergency rooms nationwide in 2009 were for preventable dental problems.    In my state of Georgia, visits to the ER for oral health problems cost more than $23 million in 2007.  In Florida, the ER bill for oral health problems exceeded $88 million.  Since only 24 states report this kind of data, the Pew report merely opens a window on a much larger problem.

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 The Morehouse Mystique:

 Becoming a Doctor at the Nation's Newest African American Medical School

Marybeth Gasman with Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.

Introduction By Barbara Bush

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE VIA AMAZON.COM

The Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of only four predominantly black medical schools in the United States. Among its illustrious alumni are surgeons general of the United States, medical school presidents, and highly regarded medical professionals. This book tells the engrossing history of this venerable institution.

The school was founded just after the civil rights era, when major barriers prevented minorities from receiving adequate health care and black students were underrepresented in predominantly white medical schools. The Morehouse School of Medicine was conceived to address both problems—it was a minority-serving institution educating doctors who would practice in under-served communities.

The school's history involves political maneuvering, skilled leadership, dedication to training African American physicians, and a mission of primary care in disadvantaged communities. Highlighting such influential leaders as former Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, The Morehouse Mystique situates the school in the context of the history of medical education for blacks and race relations throughout the country. The book features excerpts from personal interviews with prominent African American doctors as well as with former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, who reveal how local, state, and national politics shaped the development of black medical schools in the United States.

Read more: Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.