John Kitzhaber, M.D. - Biography

Graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Oregon Medical School; practiced emergency medicine in Roseburg, Oregon for over 15 years. Elected to the Oregon State House of Representatives in 1978 and the Oregon State Senate in 1980; reelected to the State Senate in 1984 and 1988; served as Senate President from 1985 to 1993; elected Governor of the State of Oregon in 1994 and reelected in 1998. Authored and implemented the groundbreaking Oregon Health Plan. Since 2003 Dr. Kitzhaber has served as President of the Estes Park Institute, which conducts six annual educational conferences for community hospitals; he serves as the Director for the Center for Evidence Based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and holds an endowed Chair on Health Care Policy with The Foundation for Medical Excellence, an Oregon based public, nonprofit educational foundation. In January 2006, Dr. Kitzhaber launched The Archimedes Movement - committed to building a meaningful opportunity for engagement through which the growing concern over our health care system can be channeled into effective action The goal is to create not only the vision for a more equitable and sustainable system but also the tension necessary for its realization.