Four College Issues Forum: Cleveland Clinic's CEO to Discuss Health Care Reform for the 21st Century

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Feb. 22, 2010 - On Friday, March 5, Delos M. (Toby) Cosgrove, M.D., CEO of the world-famous Cleveland Clinic, will deliver the annual Four College Issues Forum lecture.

Cosgrove will address "Developing a Health Care System for the 21st Century." The event will commence at 8 p.m. in the Church Street Center Auditorium (corner of Church and Porter) in North Adams, Mass.  The public is invited and the event is free.

In the current climate of healthcare debate, rising healthcare costs, a growing elderly population, and much public discussion over what would constitute the most appropriate healthcare system in the United States, the topic of Cosgrove's lecture is particularly relevant.

Cosgrove will offer his years of experience and expertise to provide an informed perspective on the matter of what can be done differently in healthcare.

The Four College Issues Forum began in 2008 as a collaboration among Bennington College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Southern Vermont College, andWilliams Collegewith the of aim of bringing significant discussion of national and global issues to the region. The forum cycles through the four colleges, alternating between Massachusetts and Vermont each year.

The Cleveland Clinic provides care for some of the most critically ill patients in the country. One third of the hospital, which performed approximately 4,000 heart operations and 170 lung transplants last year, is made up of intensive care units.

Under Cosgrove's leadership, the Cleveland Clinic's cardiac program was ranked first in the country for 10 years in a row. The Clinic is part of a system including nine community hospitals and 14 family health and ambulatory surgery centers, as well as Cleveland Clinic Florida, Cleveland Clinic Toronto, and, in the near future, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

Cosgrove joined the Clinic in 1975 and was named chairman of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in 1989. He is the author of 450 journal articles, book chapters, one book, and 17 training and continuing medical education films. He has performed more than 22,000 surgeries and has filed patents for numerous products used in surgical environments.

He is a member of 16 scientific societies including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, the American Heart Association, and the American Association of Thoracic Surgery, for which he served as president in 2000.

Cosgrove completed surgical residencies at the Children's Hospital of Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brook General Hospital, and the University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital. He also served as a surgeon in the U.S. Air Force. Cosgrove received his M.D. from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and his B.A. from Williams in 1962.

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For more information: Thomas Bernard, MCLA executive assistant to the president, (413) 662-5205; Jo Procter, Williams College news director, (413) 597-4279; Brian Davidson, Bennington College media relations associate, (802) 440-4347; Susan Biggs, Southern Vermont College director of communications, (802) 447-6389.