The Center for Health Transformation

Since retiring from Congress, Newt Gingrich has worked extensively on the issues of health and healthcare, devoting the majority of his time to advocating a transformation of the entire system. He recently founded The Center for Health Transformation (www.healthtransformation.net), a unique collaboration of public and private entities dedicated to accelerating the adoption of transformational solutions, policies, and technologies to a 21st Century Health and Healthcare System.

In his book, Saving Lives & Saving Money, Mr. Gingrich describes his vision of a 21st Century System of Health and Healthcare that is centered on the individual, prevention focused, knowledge intense, and innovation rich. Moreover, he makes the case for a market-mediated system that will improve choice and quality while driving down costs. Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Tommy Thompson, said this about Saving Lives & Saving Money, "...Just as he has time and time again, Newt Gingrich is taking on one of the biggest issues facing America today - this time, it's the health care crisis. Saving Lives and Saving Money is a welcome and necessary addition to the health care debate.”

Newt Gingrich is widely recognized as a transformational leader, unparalleled in his ability to create and lead successful large-scale change. As the architect of the Contract with America, he led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House for the first time in forty years. Under his leadership, Congress passed transformational legislation including welfare reform, the first balanced budget in a generation, funding to strengthen our defense capabilities, and the first tax cuts in sixteen years.

During his twenty years in Congress, including his four years as Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich was committed to improving America’s healthcare system, co-chairing the Republican Task Force on Health for four years prior to becoming Speaker. Under his leadership as Speaker, Medicare was improved, investment in medical research was dramatically increased, and FDA reform was enacted to allow for quicker approval and access to new medicines for those with terminal and degenerative illnesses.

The Washington Times has called him “the indispensable leader” and Time magazine, in naming him Man of the Year for 1995, said, “Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable. Newt Gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional.”

Mr. Gingrich is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research and sits on the Board of Regents at the National Library of Medicine. In addition, he holds an appointed position on the National Commission for Quality Long Term Care. A longtime advocate of people with diabetes, he is an active member of the Board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Mr. Gingrich has received numerous honors and awards from various health care organizations throughout his career, including:

• 1995 March of Dimes Georgian of the Year


• 1996 Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Honoree


• 1996 Mental Health Association Advocacy Award


• 1997 Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Advocate of the Year


• 1998 American Association of Endocrinologists Patients Advocate of the Year


• 1998 American Diabetes Association Charles Best Medal (the highest non-medical award bestowed by the ADA)


• 1998 National Association of Community Health Centers Diabetes Healthcare Advocate of the Year


• 2001 Science Coalition’s Science Pioneer Award


• 2002 National Hemophilia Foundation Special Award


• 2003 Outstanding Achievement Award, National Association of Sub acute and Post Acute Care


• 2003, 2004 Modern Healthcare’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare (#19, #11 respectively)

Recent events have spotlighted Mr. Gingrich’s unique nexus of knowledge in both healthcare and national security. Recognized internationally as an expert on world history, military issues, and international affairs, Mr. Gingrich holds many positions of distinction including:

• Member, Secretary Rumsfeld’s Defense Policy Board


• Professor, Joint War Fighting Course for Major Generals (long serving professor)


• Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor, National Defense University


• Member, Council on Foreign Relations Terrorism Task Force


• Editorial Board Member, Johns Hopkins University journal, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism


• Advisory Board Member, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies


• Member, United States Commission on National Security/21st Century (The report concluded six months before September 11, 2001, that the number one threat to the United States was the likelihood of a weapon of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical, and/or biological being used against a US city. The report also introduced the idea a Homeland Security agency with a Secretary to serve on the Cabinet level—an addition to the report spearheaded by Newt Gingrich.)

Shortly after Speaker Gingrich stepped down from Congress, well-known actress and diabetes advocate Mary Tyler Moore said: Newt Gingrich may be many things to many people but to us, he is a champion and a hero -- and his leadership in Congress will be sorely missed…Thanks to his leadership in reforming the FDA, people with degenerative illnesses are receiving medications that allow them to live longer, healthier, more independent lives. Because of his work on behalf of medical research, we are closer to a cure for diseases like diabetes, AIDS, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis. And, due to his tireless efforts in improving Medicare, senior citizens now receive the products necessary to control their diabetes, so they are less likely to lose their eyesight, lose a limb or, ultimately, lose their lives to the disease. None of these successes would have been possible without the leadership of Speaker Gingrich. Hopefully, someday, Americans everywhere will know about his efforts on behalf of people with incurable diseases.

Mr. Gingrich is the founder of the Gingrich Group, a management-consulting firm dedicated to expanding the capabilities and reach of forward-looking, innovative corporations and organizations in the health and health care industry. He has served as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute since 1999, where he leads The 21st Century Health System project.


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