About

Dr. Bill Atkinson, president and CEO WakeMed Health & Hospitals

With more than 25 years experience leading hospitals in both rural and urban settings, Dr. Bill Atkinson has a unique perspective on health care.  His health care tenure began as a member of North Carolina’s first paramedic class, and he remains passionately involved in emergency medical services and public health issues to this day.  In fact, he is routinely tapped to lead in the areas of education, workforce development, emergency and disaster response, gang control and health care delivery. He has served as chairman of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Institute of Medicine, North Carolina Hospital Association and the North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety. He was most recently tapped to serve on the American Hospital Association’s Task Force on Healthcare Financing.

Dr. Atkinson earned a doctorate in public policy and also holds master’s degrees in public health and public policy; additionally, he’s a graduate of the Executive Management Program of Yale University.

About WakeMed Health & Hospitals

WakeMed Health & Hospitals is an 870-bed hospital system based in Raleigh, serving central and eastern North Carolina.    In 1997, WakeMed conveyed to a private, not-for-profit and receives no government funding.  The system has more than 1 million patient visits each year, 7,600 talented employees, 1,200 dedicated physicians on staff and 1,000 volunteers.  Centers of excellence include cardiac and vascular care, women’s and children’s services, physical rehabilitation, emergency and trauma, orthopaedics, neurosciences, home care and numerous wellness and community outreach programs   www.wakemed.org

About WakeMed Voices

WakeMed is the second largest provider of charity care in the state of North Carolina. Every day we see the need for health care reform and treat many of those people who are falling through the cracks of the current health care system.  This blog is committed to engaging in the discussion about health care reform and providing useful, timely information about rapidly evolving policy proposals.