St.Vincent Health officials announced the development of the WellCare Institute at St.Vincent to meet the needs of individuals and corporate clients. Dr. Michael Busk Will Serve as System Executive
The WellCare Institute at St.Vincent will focus on optimizing patients’ overall health by assessing their current health risks, and providing disease prevention, education and detection.
“The establishment of the WellCare Institute is one of the many ways we are making fundamental changes in the healthcare delivery system to enhance our person-centered approach,” said Kevin Speer, chief strategy officer of St.Vincent Health. “This model allows us to develop trust-based relationships that transcend an individual healthcare encounter to supporting a person’s overall health and well-being.”
The wellness institute will strategically align with the faith-based health system’s business development efforts to deliver employer-based health offerings including, on-site clinics, critical case management and specialized health benefits plans. These partnerships are intended to aid both large and small employers in controlling healthcare costs and keeping employees healthy.
Michael Busk, MD, will serve as system executive of the WellCare Institute at St.Vincent. As former director of the Indiana University Executive Health, Corporate Wellness and Prevention Program, Dr. Busk has extensive experience in the development and delivery of health education and prevention programs for numerous corporate clients and professional organizations across the state.
In addition to his former corporate wellness role, Dr. Busk was the Medical and Research director for the National Institute for Fitness and Sport and its cardiopulmonary rehab program; associate professor of Clinical Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine; and the Catherine and Lowe Berger and Pauline L. Ford Investigator in Pulmonary Medicine. He also served as principal investigator and director of the American Lung Association – Asthma Clinical Research Center (ALA-ACRC) at Indiana University.
Dr. Busk received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences at The Chicago Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and his fellowship in Thoracic Diseases at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. In addition, he completed a second fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Busk earned a master’s degree in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. He is board certified in Internal Medicine.
In addition, Dr. Busk is a member of many professional societies including the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society. He has authored several journal articles and book chapters on topics relating to pulmonary disease and exercise and fitness. Dr. Busk serves as the vice chairman of the American Lung Association in Indiana Local Leadership Board of Directors; chairman of the Mission Committee of the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest Board of Directors; and will be the chair-elect in 2012. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America Crossroads of America Council and of The National Institute for Fitness and Sport. He will be receiving the American Lung Association in Indiana’s Legacy Award for his work and research in lung disease in November 2011.