Larry S. Gage Announces Retirement after 30 Years as NAPH President - January 12, 2011
Today, NAPH founder and President, Larry Gage announced that he will retire effective July 1. Larry has served as the Association’s first and only President for 30 years. Larry started NAPH with just five founding members in 1981 and helped it grow over the years to an organization representing the nation’s largest metropolitan hospitals and health systems. NAPH’s focus from the outset was on advocacy for Medicaid, Medicare and other policies affecting hospitals and health systems serving low income patients and other vulnerable patient populations.
During his 30 years as NAPH President, Larry was also instrumental in starting up several other health care organizations, including the National Public Health and Hospital Institute (NAPH’s affiliated research organization) and the American International Health Alliance (AIHA). AIHA has received over $150 million in funding since its inception to establish partnerships to address HIV/AIDs issues in Africa and a range of other important international concerns around the world. Larry has also served on a number of other governing and advisory boards in recent years, including the Governing Board of the University HealthSystem Consortium, as a principal member of the Hospital Quality Alliance, and on the advisory board for the Center for Health System Change, the Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence National Leadership Council of the American Hospital Association, and the Executive Council of the Department of Health Management and Policy of the Harvard School of Public Health, among others.
Throughout his tenure as President of NAPH, Larry has also practiced health care law. He joined the firm of Ropes and Gray LLP as a partner at the beginning of 2008 after 22 years as a partner in the firm of Powell Goldstein LLP. In 2006, Larry was named one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by the National Law Journal, and in 2007 he was named one of “The 100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” in Modern Healthcare Magazine (among other professional honors).
"Larry will always have the appreciation and love of the NAPH membership and a very special place in our hearts," said Kirk Calhoun, MD, NAPH Board Chair and CEO of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. “We will never forget what Larry has taught us and what he will continue to teach us in a different role after his retirement. We thank Larry and commit to passing on his values of hard work, commitment to others, perseverance in the face of adversity, and high standards of health care delivery to future generations of public hospital and health system professions.”