West Health

West Health
Founded	2009
Founders	Gary and Mary West
Type	Gary and Mary West Health Institute: 501(c)3 Medical Research Organization West Health Policy Center: 501(c)3 E05 (Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis
Focus	Enabling successful aging for America’s seniors
Location	San Diego, CA and Washington, DC, United States
Method	Independently funded by the Gary and Mary West Foundation and other donations from Gary and Mary West
Key people	Shelley Lyford, President and CEO Dr. Zia Agha, Executive Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Informatics Tim Lash, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Successful Aging
Website	westhealth.org
Formerly called	West Wireless Health Institute (2009–2012)

West Health is an independent, non-partisan group of related organizations working to enable successful aging for America’s seniors, solely funded by Gary and Mary West. The Gary and Mary West Health Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit medical research organization that works in close collaboration with the related Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center and Gary and Mary West Foundation, using applied medical research, policy and advocacy initiatives and outcomes-based funding from the Foundation to advance healthcare delivery models that enable seniors to age in place, on their own terms, preserving and protecting their dignity, quality of life and independence. The organization was founded on March 30, 2009 and formerly called the Gary and Mary West Wireless Health Institute before removing "wireless" from its name in Aug. 2012.

West Health Institute

Created in 2009 with a $45 million grant from the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the Gary and Mary West Health Institute (WHI) is an independent, nonprofit medical research organization that works with healthcare providers and research institutions to improve healthcare delivery and social services for seniors. Current projects include research into geriatric emergency care, improved services and oral heath for seniors. Early research from WHI became the Sense4Baby™ wireless maternal and fetal monitor for high-risk pregnancies, which was licensed to AirStrip. WHI also researched hospital wireless communication technology and interoperability software that was eventually licensed to the Center for Medical Interoperability, an independent, non-profit organization led by hospital and health system CEOs to drive interoperability of medical technology. The Center for Medical Interoperability is also funded by the Gary and Mary West Foundation. Operations of WHI are funded solely by the Gary and Mary West Foundation and personal contributions from the Wests.

West Health Policy Center

The Washington, D.C.-based Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center is a nonprofit, non-partisan resource in Washington, D.C. that provides policy information and proposals to improve healthcare in the U.S. for seniors. Launched in January 2012, its is researching ways to enable seniors to independently age in place through improved healthcare delivery and social services.

Gary and Mary West Foundation

The related Gary and Mary West Foundation is a private non-operating foundation solely funded by Gary and Mary West dedicated to helping make successful aging a reality for America’s seniors. Working in collaboration with grantees such as the West Health Institute, the West Health Policy Center and other senior-focused national and community-based organizations, the foundation’s outcomes-based funding supports applied medical research and policy and advocacy initiatives to enable seniors to age on their own terms, preserving and protecting their dignity, quality of life and independence. The Foundation celebrated its tenth anniversary in November of 2016, having issued $175 million in grants supporting successful aging for our nation's seniors, and accepts grant proposals by invitation only. ^[1]

Leadership

Shelley Lyford became President and CEO of West Health on Sept. 4, 2015.

Nicholas J. Valeriani was named the Chief Executive^[2] of West Health in August 2012. Members of the Board of Directors are Gary West (Founder, Chairman); Nicholas J. Valeriani, MBA (Former Chief Executive); Charles Sederstrom; Dr. Michael Johns;^[3] and Mark McClellan.^[4]

Headquarters

West Health is headquartered in San Diego, California. In December 2009, it opened its 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) research facility, which contains a classroom for workshops and seminars. It also has an office in Washington D.C.

Milestones

2016

Oct. 5 - Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center opens in downtown San Diego, a nonprofit dental center to serve low-income seniors and study the long-term effects of holistic care ^[5]
April 30 - $11.8 million in grants from Gary and Mary West establish the Gary and Mary West Senior Emergency Care Unit at UC San Diego’s Thornton Hospital, the first emergency department in region solely focused on seniors ^[6]

2015

July 7 - Nicholas Valeriani announces his retirement; Shelley Lyford named incoming President and CEO ^[7]
February 12 - APCD Council and West Health Policy Center launch APCD Manual to drive healthcare price transparency^[8]
Mark McClellan named to boards of WHI and West Health Policy Center

2014

December 12 – Research study on telecommunications-based care coordination with West Health Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and West Corporation announced
May 15 – West Health releases study showing healthcare price transparency could save $100 billion over ten years
May 8 - West Health releases study showing potential benefits of value-based insurance design to high-deductible health plans
February 13 - West Health Policy Center launches study with Harvard and University of Michigan on insurance options for chronically-ill patients
February 6 – WHI and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) co-host HCI-DC 2014: Igniting an Interoperable Health Care System conference in Washington, D.C.

2013

December 12 – Institute announced research study on telecommunications-based care coordination with Vanderbilt University Medical Center and West Corporation
September 18 – The West Health Institute and Gary and Mary West Foundation create Center for Medical Interoperability to improve patient safety and lower costs of healthcare
March 20 - Dr. Joe Smith testifies at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health about medical interoperability
March 20 - WHI releases study: “The Value of Medical Device Interoperability: Improving patient care with more than $30 billion in annual health care savings”
March 3 - Institute demonstrates research advances in medical device interoperability to lower the cost of healthcare

2012

December 3 - West Health Institute launches American Journal of Preventive Medicine Supplement focused on healthcare cost crisis at mHealth Summit
October 30 - West Health Institute licenses Kinect-based physical therapy technology to Reflexion Health
September 26 - West Health Institute unveils new Kinect-based physical therapy technology, launches research studies with Naval Medical Center in San Diego
September 18 - Sense4Baby, Inc. licenses Wireless Fetal Monitoring System in WHI's first technology transfer
August 15 - Nick Valeriani Named CEO of West Health Institute, West Wireless Health Institute changes name to West Health Institute, West Health Incubator unveiled as fourth entity in West Health
February 15 - Medical Grade Wireless Utility unveiled, hospital leaders champion IT solutions to lower health care costs
January 26 – West Wireless Health Institute hosts HCI-DC 2012 with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as cohost
January 23 - West Health Policy Center launched in Washington, D.C. targets $100B in common sense health care savings

2011

April 28 - WWHI hosts second Health Care Innovation Day (HCI-DC), cohosted with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

2010

November 8 – WWHI develops its first engineered prototype, Sense4Baby, a non-invasive wireless device designed to make fetal and maternal monitoring more readily available to expectant mothers.^[9]
October 12 – WWHI hosts inaugural Health Care Innovation Day (HCI-DC) with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as cohost
June 25 - Carlos Slim Health Institute and West Wireless Health Institute partner on Wireless Health Initiatives in U.S., Mexico and throughout Latin America

2009

December – WWHI moves to headquarters on San Diego's Torrey Pines Research Mesa.
July 23 – WWHI is acknowledged as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization by the Internal Revenue Service.
March 30 – West Wireless Health Institute is launched in San Diego, California with a $45 million grant from the Gary and Mary West Foundation.

References

↑ "Gary and Mary West Foundation Celebrates Decade of Grantmaking to Improve the Lives of Vulnerable Seniors | West Health". www.westhealth.org. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
↑ "Renamed West Health Institute Names CEO, Creates Health Tech Incubator". Xconomy. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
↑ "West Health Announces Appointment of Dr. Michael Johns To West Health Policy Center Board of Directors". West Health. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
↑ "Mark McClellan Appointed to West Health Institute and West Health Policy Center Boards of Directors". West Health. Retrieved 2015-02-04.
↑ Sisson, Paul. "New clinic takes bite out of seniors' dental problems". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
↑ Sisson, Paul. "Area's first geriatric ER coming to UCSD". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
↑ "West Health's Nick Valeriani to Retire From Chief Executive Role; Shelley Lyford Named as Successor | West Health". www.westhealth.org. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
↑ "West Health Policy Center and APCD Council Launch New Guide to Create All-Payer Claims Databases and Accelerate Healthcare Price Transparency". West Health. 2015-02-12.
↑ "West Wireless Health unveils Sense4Baby prototype". MobiHealthNews. Retrieved 2011-01-03.

External links

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