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The Indiana Hospital Association has selected a former health policy adviser to former Gov. Mitch Daniels and nursing home trade association leader as its next president.
The association said Tuesday morning that Scott B. Tittle will take the helm of the nonprofit professional trade group on Nov. 25. He succeeds interim president Blake Dye, who took over after longtime president Brian Tabor stepped down last spring.
As president, Tittle will advocate on behalf of the state’s 170 hospitals, some of which have come under sharp criticism in recent years for high prices and lofty profits, making Indiana one of the most expensive states in the nation for health care. Other Indiana hospitals, on the other hand, are struggling to survive in the wake of rising costs for wages, supplies and drugs.
“We’re excited to welcome Scott, who brings extensive experience in association leadership and health care advocacy, with a deep understanding of the policies that shape our industry,” said Steve Holman, chair of the IHA board of directors and president and CEO of Union Health in Terre Haute.
Tittle said he has respect for all IHA has achieved through its advocacy and patient work.
“I look forward to advancing the mission of IHA even further by providing leadership and support in a collaborative way so Indiana hospitals can focus on what they do best—delivering affordable, high-quality care,” he said in written remarks.
Tittle worked for the Daniels administration from 2005 to 2007, early in Daniels’ first term. The IHA said it was under the Daniels administration that Tittle successfully helped advocate for a cigarette tax increase that helped fund the Healthy Indiana Plan, an insurance program launched in 2007 to provide coverage for non-disabled, moderate-income adults.
For the past three years, Tittle has served as managing director and head of government relations and external affairs for Vium Capital, a Columbus, Ohio-based financial services firm that specializes in long-term care and senior housing.
He previously served as executive director of the National Center for Assisted Living in Washington, D.C., and president of the Indiana Health Care Association/Indiana Center for Assisted Living in Indianapolis.
In those roles, he guided skilled nursing facilities and assisted living operators with their regulatory, reimbursement and advocacy needs.
Under his leadership, the Indiana Health Care Association pushed in 2014 for a moratorium on construction of new nursing homes in an effort to stabilize their declining occupancy rates. Some nursing home developers and key players in the construction industry organized to push back.
“The moratorium was incredibly important to our members,” Tittle said at the time. “We didn’t have any other priority for the 2014 session.”
The effort failed in 2014 but the group and its supporters were successful the following year, as state lawmakers passed a three-year moratorium on construction of most new nursing homes around Indiana. Then-Gov. Mike Pence said he would let the bill become law without his signature, expressing concerns about restricting free-market principles.
Prior to working for the trade associations, Tittle was a health care attorney with law firm Krieg DeVault LLP for nearly six years.
Tittle earned his law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in English and political science from Vanderbilt University.
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Scott is a smart fellow, wish him well in new endeavors.
Thank you to Blake Dye for his leadership during a tumultuous time in IN healthcare.
Seems like a hack-y position designed to prioritize hospital profits over patient care.