Уильям Фрист: Биография американского политика и врача

American politician (born 1952)

William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Frist studied government and health care policy at Princeton University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. In 1994, he defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Jim Sasser. After serving as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Frist succeeded Tom Daschle as the Senate Majority Leader. Frist helped pass several parts of President George W. Bush's domestic agenda, including the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 and the Medicare Modernization Act. Frist left the Senate in 2007, honoring his pledge to serve no more than two terms. In his post Senate career, he serves as Chair of the Global Board of The Nature Conservancy. He is also a founding partner of Frist Cressey Ventures, a special partner and chairman of the Executives Council of the health service investment firm Cressey & Company, and co chair of the Health Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He currently hosts the A Second Opinion Podcast on the intersection of policy, medicine, and innovation.

Frist was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Dorothy (née Cate) Frist and Thomas Fearn Frist Sr. He is a fourth generation Tennessean. His father was a doctor and co founded the health care business organization which became Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Frist's brother, HCA co founder Thomas F. Frist, Jr., became chairman and chief executive of HCA in 1997. His other siblings include Robert A. Frist; Dorothy F. Boensch; and Mary F. Barfield. Frist graduated in 1970 from Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, and then from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1974. Frist was a member of University Cottage Club while he was a student at Princeton. In 1972, he held a summer internship with Tennessee Congressman Joe L. Evins, who advised Frist that if he wanted to pursue a political career, he should first have a career outside politics. Frist proceeded to Harvard Medical School, where he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine with honors in 1978. While he was a medical school student in the 1970s, Frist acknowledged in his book Transplant that he performed medical experiments and vivisection on shelter cats while conducting research at Harvard Medical School. He writes about having succumbed to the pressure to succeed in a highly competitive medical school, acknowledging it was "a heinous and dishonest thing to do." This issue became controversial in his first Senate campaign in 1994, and gained national attention after his election to Senate Majority Leader.

While in medical school, Frist joined the laboratory of W. John Powell Jr. at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1977, where he continued his training in cardiovascular physiology. In 1978, he became a resident in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1983, he spent time at Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, England as a senior registrar in cardiothoracic surgery. He returned to Massachusetts General in 1984 as chief resident and fellow in cardiothoracic surgery. From 1985 until 1986, Frist was a senior fellow and chief resident in cardiac transplant service and cardiothoracic surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine. a pioneering surgeon known as the father of heart transplantation. After completing his fellowship, Frist became a faculty member at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he began a heart and lung transplantation program. There, he performed the first heart lung transplant in the Southeast. And in 1990, he performed Tennessee's first single lung transplant, a notoriously difficult procedure. He also served as a staff surgeon at the Nashville Veterans Administration Hospital. In 1989, he founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center,

In 1991 Frist operated on then–Lieutenant Colonel David Petraeus after he had been shot in a training accident at Fort Campbell. Their paths crossed again when Frist was elected to the Senate and Petraeus rose through the military ranks to General. They later ran the Army 10 miler together in 2002 in Washington, DC. In 1992, Frist organized a statewide grassroots campaign to return the organ donation card to the Tennessee driver's license and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Medical Association for his efforts. In 1998, Frist administered emergency aid to victims and the shooter in the 1998 Capital Shooting. Frist regularly participated in global medical mission and international relief trips, often with non profit Samaritan's Purse, providing medical aid in sub Saharan Africa and taking part in emergency response to hurricanes (Katrina), earthquakes (Haiti), tsunami (Sri Lanka) and famine (Sudan and Ethiopia). During his 20 years in medicine, Frist performed over 150 heart and lung transplants and authored over 100 peer reviewed medical articles. He is board certified in both general and heart surgery. Frist accused his 1994 opponent, incumbent Senator Jim Sasser, of "sending Tennessee money to Washington, DC", and said, "While I've been transplanting lungs and hearts to heal Tennesseans, Jim Sasser has been transplanting Tennesseans' wallets to Washington, home of Marion Barry." During the campaign he also criticized Sasser for trying to become Senate Majority Leader, claiming that his opponent would be spending more time taking care of Senate business than Tennessee business. Frist won the election, defeating Sasser by 13 points in the 1994 Republican sweep of both houses of Congress, thus becoming the first doctor in the Senate since June 17, 1938, when Royal S. Copeland died. In his 2000 reelection campaign, Frist easily won with 66 percent of the vote. He received the largest vote total ever by a statewide candidate. Frist's 2000 campaign organization was later fined by the Federal Election Commission for failing to disclose a $1.44 million loan taken out jointly with the 1994 campaign organization. Frist paid a civil fine of $11,000 in a settlement with the FEC. Frist supported the Iraq war while in the Senate; he supported the initial invasion as well as the war during the Iraqi Insurgency. Frist first entered the national spotlight when two Capitol police officers were shot inside the United States Capitol by Russell Eugene Weston Jr. in 1998. Frist, the closest doctor, provided immediate medical attention (he was unable to save the two officers, but was able to save Weston). Frist said of that experience, "You’re trained to respond. In moments like that, you are not a judge, not a jury, you are a physician. It was a tragic incident. I know almost all of the Capitol guards." His book, When Every Moment Counts: What You Need to Know About Bioterrorism from the Senate's Only Doctor, was published following the attacks and provides a question and answer format with timely information on responding to biological agents like anthrax. Over the course of his 12 years in the Senate, his committee assignments included: Committee on Finance, Committee on Health, Education, and Pensions, Committee on Rules and Administration, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Small Business, and Committee on the Budget. He served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on African Affairs, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, and Chairman of the Budget Committee Task Force on Education. As the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he helped Republicans win back the Senate in the 2002 midterm election. His committee collected $66.4 million for 2001–2002, 50% more than the previous year.

Frist was mentioned as a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate and as a potential 2010 Republican candidate for Governor of Tennessee. Ultimately, he did not run for either office. In 2009, Frist stated that he would have broken with his party by voting in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was unanimously opposed by Republicans. In January 2011, after the Republicans regained a majority in the House, Frist called on them not to attempt to repeal the health care law.

In 2008, he became a partner in Chicago based Cressey & Co., investing in the nation's health care market. Today, he serves as special partner and chairman of the Executives Council at Cressey. In 2013, Frist partnered with Brad Smith to start Aspire Health, which grew to be the largest non hospice community based palliative care company in the U. S. before it was acquired by Anthem in 2018. The care model was inspired in part by the team based approach Frist had used in caring for patients awaiting transplants. In 2015, Frist co founded Frist Cressey Ventures, a Nashville based venture capital firm focused on partnering with early stage healthcare companies. He is an active partner in the firm today. Frist also serves as board chair of Monogram Health, a value based specialty provider of in home evidence based care and benefit management services for patients living with polychronic conditions, including chronic kidney and end stage renal disease. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, and privately held by Frist Cressey Ventures and other leading strategic and financial investors, Monogram Health provides care for patients across 34 states and all insurance products.

In 2009, Frist launched a statewide education reform nonprofit organization targeting K 12 education called SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education). The organization's mission is to "collaboratively support Tennessee's work to prepare students for college and the workforce." Frist has served as chairman of SCORE's board of directors. As part of SCORE's work, Frist annually presents the State of Education in Tennessee report, a comprehensive look at the state's efforts to improve public education. In 2013, Frist voiced support for higher academic standards in grades K 12, reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and improving efforts to identify, foster, and reward effective teaching. In 2010, Frist served on the six person board of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which had raised $66 million for immediate earthquake relief and long term recovery efforts in the Caribbean country. Frist also founded and chairs Hope Through Healing Hands, a global health non profit, as well as community health collaborative NashvilleHealth. In 2019 NashvilleHealth completed, in partnership with the Nashville Metro Public Health Department, the first community health and well being survey of Nashville/Davidson County residents in nearly 20 years. The organization also led a review of Nashville's response to the COVID 19 pandemic, detailing recommendations to improve future crisis response in a report, Strategies for Future Preparedness: Examining the Impact of COVID 19 in Nashville.

Frist has served on numerous public, private, and non profit boards. He currently serves as Chairman of the Global Board of The Nature Conservancy, a three year term that began in October 2022, and has been a member of the board since June 2015, previously as vice chair. He has also served on the non profit boards of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2013–2023), and previously spent 10 years on the board of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Other current board services includes: Aegis Sciences Corporation, Devoted Health, Digital Diagnostics, MDsave, Monogram Health, OneOncology, Select Medical, and Teladoc. Prior service includes: Accolade, URS Corp., and AECOM. Frist has held numerous roles with the Smithsonian Institution, including serving on its Board of Regents (1997–2007). Congress established the Smithsonian in 1846 as "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," and vested responsibility for the administration of the Smithsonian in a Board of Regents, consisting of the Chief Justice of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, three members of the United States Senate, three members of the United States House of Representatives, and nine citizens. Frist later served on the advisory board of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. From 2007 to 2010 he served on the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a government corporation established in 2004 to fight global poverty.

After leaving the U. S. Senate, Frist taught at Princeton and Vanderbilt. From 2007 2008 Frist served as the Frederick H. Schultz Class of 1951 Visiting professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, teaching with his longtime mentor, renowned healthcare economist Uwe Reinhardt. From 2009 – 2010, Frist taught as a Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University with Congressman Jim Cooper (D TN). Frist also became a co chair of One Vote '08, an initiative of the ONE campaign, with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D SD). According to OneVote. org, "One Vote '08 is an unprecedented, non partisan campaign to make global health and extreme poverty foreign policy priorities in the 2008 presidential election." Frist traveled to Africa for the ONE campaign in July 2008. Since 2011, Frist has served as a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and is co chair of the organization's Health Project with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Frist is a trained pilot, a skill he used to annually travel to all 95 Tennessee counties while campaigning and in office. An active runner while in the Senate, Frist completed seven marathons from 1998 – 2001.

In 1981, Frist married Karyn McLaughlin. They had three sons: Harrison, Jonathan, and Bryan. The Frist family were members of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D. C. The Frists were divorced in December 2012. On May 29, 2015, Frist married Tracy Lynne Roberts (b. April 14, 1962). The couple resides in Franklin, Tennessee.

As of 2005, Frist had a fortune in the millions of dollars, most of it the result of his ownership of stock in Hospital Corporation of America, the for profit hospital chain founded by his brother and father. Frist's 2005 financial disclosure form listed blind trusts valued between $15 million and $45 million. Members of the Frist family have been major donors to Princeton University, pledging a reported $25 million in 1997 for the construction of the Frist Campus Center. Bill and Karyn Frist were the sole trustees in charge of a family foundation bearing the senator's name which had more than $2 million in assets in 2004. He and his siblings were vice presidents of another charitable foundation bearing their parents' names. The status of Frist's blind trust, and subsequent statements about it and activities within it, led to an SEC investigation. He was questioned in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about stock sales allegedly based on inside information. The investigation was closed after 18 months with no charges were filed. Frist said in a statement, "I've always conducted myself according to the highest ethical standards in both my personal and public life, and my family and I are pleased that this matter has been resolved."

Frist was named one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He was also named to The Time 100: The 2005 list of the world's most influential people by Time Magazine. In 2001, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 2003, Frist received Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Award, which is conferred annually upon an alumnus or alumna of the undergraduate college whose achievements exemplify Woodrow Wilson's memorable phrase, "Princeton in the nation’s service." In 2011, he received the Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership in recognition of his life saving efforts worldwide, and the importance of business aviation to those endeavors. Between 1997 and 2006, Frist received honorary degrees from five historically black colleges and universities, including Fisk University, Howard University, LeMoyne Owen College, Meharry Medical College, and the Morehouse School of Medicine.